


My Knight In Shining Highlight

by Gabby_doo



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Boys Kissing, Drunken Kissing, First Kiss, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Burn, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 04:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13182861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabby_doo/pseuds/Gabby_doo
Summary: Lotor was tired of the girls in his class constantly asking him out despite telling them he was in a relationship. Yes, he was lying, but he didn't want to hurt the girls feelings. Thank the Lord an angry smol ran into him. He would do just fine as a pretend boyfriend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I based this fic off of these pics   
> https://fuzzyput.tumblr.com/post/164064727223/school-au-by-mintpeanut-i-really-like-this  
> Check em out

Why does this always happen to me, Lotor thought as yet another girl felt the need to inquire about his love life. At this point, at least half of the girls in his biology and evolutions class have asked him if he was in a relationship, but it was never a simple "Are you in a relationship, yes or no?" Instead the conversation always started with a "how is your day" which was a dumb question to ask at 9 in the morning, but he always answered politely, then they'd ask "when's your next class" to which he would tell then noon, then they'd always compliment his snow white hair and his outfit of the day so clearly he's have to compliment them. By this point the friend that has been giggling for the entire conversation will start nudging the girl who was talking to Lotor which normally indicates that the girl is about to ask about his love life. Since the first girl asked he's been saying he was in a relationship to let the girls down easy, but they are relentless, so until they see a human being by his side that can be called his significant other, they were not going to stop.  
So here he was again, 9 a.m., being asked if he had a girlfriend, and so, he responded as he always does, " It is very cute that you like me, but you must understand, I can not reciprocate your feelings because..." suddenly a dark haired boy walked into his shoulder and a light bulb went off in Lotors head. As the boy continued his brisk pace, Lotor caught the back of his red jacket and pulled him into a side hug, "I have a boyfriend!" Lotor shot the girl an apologetic smile as he continued, "He is terribly shy. For this reason we have not told anyone we are together. As you could tell from him bodying me just a moment ago, seeing you come on to me made him, uh, slightly upset. I do hope you understand my dear," Lotor finished. The girl just stood there, still processing the information as her friend ushered her to get a move on, and with that the pair were gone.  
Lotor let out a breath of relief just as he was being pushed away by the black haired beauty.  
"Who are you and why did you feel the need to grab me?" the boy barked. The boy glared at Lotor, while slowly moving his lips.  
"Well hello there!" Lotor smiled wide while leaning down to be face to face with the angry boy, "You see, I've been getting bombarded every other day for the past month by all these girls in my-", suddenly there was a hand shoved in Lotor's face which promptly shut him up. The boy let out an even breath.  
"Nevermind, I didn't realize you were about to tell me your life story. I'm about to be even later for my Shakespeare's class than I already am. Goodbye asshole," and the boy was off, leaving Lotor at a loss for words. After a moment Lotor shouted after him.  
"Hey, what's your name?"  
The fair skinned boy threw up the middle finger without even looking back. What an interesting young man, Lotor thought as he watched the boy make his way to class.  
The following week no girls asked him on a date which Lotor was thankful for, but, suddenly all the girls in his bio class kept staring at him and giggling whenever he noticed which he didn't understand. He dressed the same, spoke the same, and styled his hair the same everyday, so he didn't know what was up with everyone. Even some of the guys in class would stare at him like he was bacteria under a microscope. Then he understood why everyone was acting so weird by the end of the week. When class ended Lotor packed up his things as usual and began his walk to the door to leave just like everyone else. As usual, he had his phone in his left hand. His phone vibrated, so he lifted it up to see who texted him and he accidently hit the ass of the guy in front of him, and instantly the guy turned around and snapped on him, "I'm not gay so don't touch my ass!" Lotor gave to rude guy a confused look.  
"Good morning to you too," was all he said because honestly, 9 a.m. is far too early for a fight with someone, but at least now he knew why everyone was looking at him like he was a weird new breed of cat. Although the guy was wrong, he was actually bisexual. It's not as if Lotor was hiding his sexuality, he just didn't see the need to introduce himself like, "Hello! I am bisexual!"  
I guess because I kept turning down the girls and my fake significant other was a boy everyone has assumed I am gay. Haha, Lotor smiled to himself as he walked to the library, if only they knew that I had a stronger preference for girls over boys, wouldn't that just ruin their egos. Haha, none of those girls were people I'd want to be with, and that boy didn't even have a nice ass. Haha, Lotor chuckled as he sat down on a bench outside the library. He sat there for about twenty minute playing pocket morty's until he decided he really needed to piss, so he went inside the library and headed to the bathroom. As he walked into the bathroom he noticed a certain black haired boy beginning to piss, so Lotor broke the one rule for urinal: don't piss right next to someone else if you can avoid it. As he unzipped his pants to piss next to the boy, he then broke another rule: no talking while pissing.  
"How are you doing this fine morning my fellow student?" Lotor asked looking at the boy patiently. It seemed to take the boy a moment before he realized he was being spoken too, but as soon as he figured out what was happening he narrowed his eyes at Lotor and gave him a look that screamed why-the-fuck-are-you-speaking-to-me-right-now. Lotor continued to smile and spoke again, " Or should I call you my boyfriend?"  
"I will give you five seconds to finish your piss and leave, or I will piss directly on your boot," the boy deadpaned.  
"Is that any way to speak to your faux boyfriend?"  
"One..."  
"Aw, c'mon don't be like that."  
"Two..."  
"At least tell me your name."  
"Three..."  
"You wouldn't dare..."  
"Four..."  
"I don't think you will."  
"Five."  
Lotor realized, as the boy began to turn his body, that he would, in fact, piss on his boot, so he quickly shoved his peewee back into his pants and hightailed it out of there. He would finish his piss later. My oh my, this boy is a lunatic! Who ever follows up on such absurd threats? , Lotor thought in amusement as he went back to his bench outside the library. I guess I'll wait out here and try again, if I'm gunna keep running into him, I might as well know, Lotor thought. And so he sat outside the library until 11:30, waiting for that strange guy to come out, but unfortunately Lotor had to leave to go to his music class that began at 12. Maybe next time. Lotor was hopeful he'd see the boy again, in a possibly less uncomfortable setting. He felt he needed to figure out his faux-boyfriend's name eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

Another full week passed, and oddly enough, Lotor did not run into the black haired beauty again. Honestly, it didn't bother him much- he had midterms to worry about- but it didn't stop the girls in his bio class from questioning him on the boy every chance they got. "Where did you two meet? How was your first date? How long have you two been together? How's the sex? Do your parent's know?", were the questions he was constantly bombarded everyday for the past week. Apparently, after everyone got over the fact that he wasn't single and wasn't straight, the girls decided they had to know everything about Lotor's boyfriend. Now, remembering all the lies he had to make up was extremely exhausting in relation to how they met, their dates, and his boyfriend's likes and dislikes. So, he tried to make their relationship as boring as possible- they met in college, since the beginning of the semester, their first date was at Balboa park, they haven't had sex yet, and yes their parent's know. Lotor failed to mention the stunt his "boyfriend" pulled in the bathroom where he nearly pisses on him. Finally, after a ten minute interrogation by some girls after class, he was finally able to escape to his bench outside the library.   
"Whew," Lotor slumped into the bench and closed his eyes. I have made a terrible mistake that is going to haunt me for the next 2 months, thank God I'm not stuck with these people next semester, Lotor thought. He sat up and opened his eyes after a moment and lo and behold, he saw his fake boyfriend making his way towards the library. Lotor perked up. He was about to say a smart ass comment as the boy got closer, but the boy looked ready to murder someone, so Lotor went with a simple hello there. The boy stopped and slowly turned his head, and as soon as he saw Lotor, he began to silently move his lips again. Lotor spoke again, "Where're ya heading?" Instead of an answer, the boy started to walk away, so Lotor jumped to his feet and trailed behind. "That is very rude of you to ignore someone so blantly, even if you are in a terrible mood my dear," Lotor said as he stalked behind the boy, practically leaning his head on the shorty's shoulder. The boy shook him off.  
"Don't call me dear," he spat.  
"It speaks!" Lotor said with amazement. "You know, if you told me where you were going, maybe I'd leave you alone."  
"Doubtful," the boy huffed. Lotor thought for a moment on their initial encounter then suddenly remembered.  
"Oh yeah, you're late for your Shakespeare class again aren't you!" Lotor exclaimed while placing his head close to the boy's shoulder again. The boy stopped abruptly, and Lotor ran into him. "My sincerest apolog-"  
"How did you know that?", the boy questioned, clearly confused. The boy took a step forward then turned to face Lotor, waiting for a response.  
"I remembered it from when you ran into me oh so rudely last week of course," Lotor answered as if it should have been obvious. Realization dawned on the boy, a shadow of a smile appeared on his lips but was soon replaced with a scowl and annoyance.  
"By the way, for the record, we are not going out. I already have a boyfriend," and with that the boy turned around and continued walking. Lotor stood stunned for a moment, that boy somefuckinghow has a boyfriend? Yes, he is more that handsome, but his personality is so abrasive I feel like I'm getting rubbed by a large piece of sandpaper! Lotor collected himself quickly though and caught up with the boy.  
"Hey, I just needed a scapegoat to stop those girls from pestering me is all. Trust me, I did not think for a second that you would want to date me . You made it abundantly clear in the bathroom," Lotor said which somehow earned him a chuckle.  
"Yeah, I nearly pissed on your boot, yet here you are, bothering my sorry ass, why?" The boy asked.  
"Well, for starters, I feel like after making you my fake boyfriend, I should at least get to know you a little, I find your... actions quite amusing, and you still have yet to tell me your name and I would very much like to know it," Lotor stated as they turned into a building. The boy seemed to hesitate for a moment before relenting.  
"My name's Keith. And this is the class which I am 15 minutes late to. I'd appreciate it if you'd stop bothering me now that I've told you my name. Goodbye..." Keith looketo Lotor.  
"Lotor. I am Lotor. See you around Keith," Lotor spoke with a sly grin.  
"I hope not," and Keith opened the door and entered the classroom.   
Lotor whipped out his phone and saw it was 9:20. He decided to wait for Keith because honestly, he didn't have much else to do. So, there Lotor was, for the next 50 minutes, chilling cross legged on the floor, studying for his music midterm. He didn't notice class had let out until he felt a somewhat not soft kick to his shin.   
"That was rude," Lotor stated, not even looking up from his notebook.   
"And you're being weird. Why are you out here? Leave. Now," Keith sounded angry and a little panicked. When Lotor looked up, he saw Keith looking to his left as if he was searching for someone. A second later, Keith's hands were pulling Lotor up from the floor and ushering his out the door to the right.  
"Why in the world are you getting rid of me?" Loto asked quite confused and he was shoved out the door.  
"You... just... fuck off!" And with that, Keith was gone, walking off in the opposite direction as the door shut in Lotor's face. I wonder why he physically removed me from there, Lotor thought. I am going to be a creep and find out, Lotor decided. Instead of leaving, Lotor decided to peak into the hallway through the window on the door to see why Keith was so adamant about removing him. After a minute passed with Keith standing at the door of his classroom, a guy rounded the corner to the right with a huge smile. The guy was taller than Keith, had a white stripe in his hair, and... Oh my god, are they kissing?!, Lotor's brain malfunctioned. His brain short circuited. Lotor was at a loss for words for a moment honestly, but he continued to watch the pair. He couldn't make out what they were saying because for the life of him he can't read lips, but they kissed again, and Keith seemed to be pretty happy. That must be the boyfriend he was talking about, Lotor thought as he watched the duo walk away. I believe I could most certainly ship those two, Lotor decided as he strolled away.


	3. Chapter 3

Two weeks go by, and it's finally December, Lotor's favorite month. One thing about going to college in San Diego was that it was still warm in December, so it didn't smell like Christmas, at least not to him. Back home the heater would be running and the house would smell of warmth, outside it would be 34 degrees and it would bite his skin the moment he stepped outside and he would be consumed with the smell of evergreens and the freezing cold. When he'd come home later in the day, the house would smell of baked cookies and hot cocoa. Things are different now though. San Diego doesn't quite smell like that.   
In any case, Lotor was relieved midterms were over, and although he didn't go home for Thanksgiving he was going home for Christmas. He just needed to make it to the end of the month. He just needed to make it through finals, but those were three weeks away.  
With all the hecticness that was college, Lotor had not realized he hadn't ran into Keith for two weeks until he heard yelling on his walk to get some coffee on campus.   
"It's a waste of my time!" Keith yelled. A softer, but still loud voice, could be heard responding.  
"I know you feel that way Keith, but you need to stop skipping all of you classes so much. You're lucky only one of your classes has an attendance policy, or else you'd be failing even more classes," the voice said. Lotor turned around to see Keith's boyfriend attempting to talk Keith into going to class more often.  
"If I understand the material, do all the work, and take all the tests and quizzes and pass why do I need to show up all the time? I go to hand in my work and take my tests. If I fail because of a stupid attendance policy then whatever," Keith began to stalk off having made a spectacular of himself and his boyfriend. His boyfriend was bright red, apologizing to anyone nearby that could hear. While Keith's boyfriend was apologizing, apparently Keith was in such an angry haze that he nearly barrelled into Lotor again. Lotor grabbed Keith by the shoulders to stop him from walking any further. With a concerned look he spoke softly,   
"Hey Keith, are you alright?" Keith kept avoiding Lotor's gaze and he tried to shrug him off violently.  
"Let me go!" Keith shouted,as he tried to shove Lotor away, but Lotor wasn't budging.  
"I am not going to do that, Keith," Lotor spoke evenly and softly, still trying to look Keith in the eyes, but he kept avoiding eye contact. "Look at me , c'mon, I know every word I speak will go in one ear and out the other if you do not look me in the eyes," Lotor tried again lowering his head in an attempt to force eye contact. When Lotor did this however, his grip on Keith loosened and Keith was able to push Lotor off of him just as his boyfriend walked over and got his hands on Keith's shoulders.  
"Keith, buddy, you need to calm down," the boyfriend said. Lotor was regaining his composure as Keith's boyfriend said that, and even Lotor knew that was the one phrase you don't say to someone who is angry. Lotor could practically see this guy add fuel to the flame as Keith was re engulfed in rage. Shit, Lotor thought.  
Keith turned around, flames in his eyes, and he looked about to seconds away from ripping this guy's head off.  
"I am calm Shiro! Plenty calm! Calm as a fucking cucumber actually! I just wish you," Keith jabbed a finger at Shiro, "wouldn't try and meddle with my school life! I'm going to see the dean tomorrow about okay! Now get off my goddamn case!" And with that Keith pushed Shiro away the same time as Lotor salked off toward the coffee shop. Again the pair had made a spectacular, but Shiro didn't care this time. He was about to walk off in the opposite direction of Keith when he finally noticed Lotor. If looks could kill, then Lotor would have been dead last week. Those chilling black eyes left a searing hole in Lotor as Shiro left slightly agitated. Okay then, Lotor thought, I just wanted some coffee. Lotor sighed and walked to the coffee place which was close by. As Lotor got to the doors, he saw Keith leaning next to the wall near the doors. Keith had one foot up on the wall, arms crossed, and Lotor could swear he smelled the angry fums Keith was emitting. Lotor decided to take his chances and approached Keith.  
"Hello, would you like to join me for some coffee?" Lotor asked. Keith looked like he would kill a kitten for a moment before he deflated.  
"I guess," Keith agreed.  
"Splendid, my treat then. Seems like you're having a rough day," Lotor said while opening the door to let Keith in. Keith just grumbled in response. "So, what do you normally get?" There was a moments hesitation before Keith answered.  
"I'll buy my own drink," Keith responded, arms crossed.  
"I've already told you I would treat you. It would be positively rude of me to back out of my offer now," Lotor countered. There were quite a few people in line, so they could go back and forth like this for a bit.  
"You're not my boyfriend," Keith retorted.  
"Yes, I believe he decided to stalk off in the opposite direction of where we are," Lotor responded. Keith glared at him eyes like daggers.  
"Still doesn't change the fact you aren't my boyfriend," Keith answered.  
"Right again! I am your fake boyfriend, so I..." Lotor was quickly shut up by the pain he felt as Keith dug his thumb into the skin between his collarbone and neck.  
"Stop with the fake boyfriend thing already! And weren't you supposed to leave me alone after I told you where I was going like 2 weeks ago anyways?" Keith could make a whisper sound like a scream Lotor decided.  
"Okay one," Lotor removed Keith's thumb from his skin, "ow, and two, I have left you alone, if you can't remember, I'll refresh your memory. You were the one who ran into me when you were storming away from tall dark and handsome fifteen minutes ago. All I wanted was some coffee and then you were outside the only coffee place that is on campus, and since you seem quite angry and upset I thought I'd be nice enough to buy you a drink and maybe sit down and talk alright?" Lotor responded with only a small hint of annoyance.   
"You..." Keith started angrily, but then seemed to deflate a bit, "can get me a..." he spoke quietly, "a white mocha." Keith avoided eye contact. Lotor took advantage of the situation.  
"Oh, you- you have a sweet tooth don't you?" Lotor couldn't hide the smirk on his face or in his voice even if his life depended on it. "You? I've spoken to you- what is it- five times now and you may well have the most bitter personality I've ever had to encounter, yet you have a sweet tooth. Honestly, I was expecting you to tell me black coffee," Lotor said with amazement.   
"I will not hesitate to rip your tongue out of your mouth so I never have to hear your voice again," Keith deadpanned.  
"I can believe that you would do that considering you nearly ruined my favorite pair of boots with your piss," Lotor chuckled. He smiled down at Keith and Keith looked utterly confused. "Everything alr-"  
"I can help out next guest," the cashier spoke promptly cutting Lotor off.  
"Ah yes, could I get two large white mochas..." Lotor looked at Keith and spoke to him, "Hot or iced?"   
"Hot."  
"Hot please," Lotor finished.  
"That'll be ten dollars," the cashier responded. Lotor handed him the money and was on his merry way when he noticed Keith looked pale.  
"You alright there? You look pretty pale," Lotor inquired with concern.  
"Why was it so... so..." Keith looked like he was at a loss for words before he spoke again, "expensive?" Keith looked terribly distraught.  
"It wasn't expensive at all," Lotor answered confused.  
"I didn't ask you to get me a large, why didn't you just get me a small," Keith was distraught still but was also getting angry again.  
"Easy now, it was no issue buying those coffees for me alright? For me it was rather cheap," Lotor tried to explain. Keith looked like he was about to continue yelling at him so Lotor kept speaking, "Keith, you know how much tuition is right?" Keith was taken aback by this question, but he answered him nonetheless.  
"Sixty grand if you live on campus, about forty six grand off campus, why?" Keith answered.  
"I live off campus, and my grandparents are stupid wealthy so they can easily afford tuition here, don't you think if they can afford tuition here that they can afford me buying 10 dollars worth of coffee?" Lotor tried to use reason. Keith grumbled a some form of agreement and stopped trying to argue with him.  
The pair stood in awkward silence for five minutes while they waited for their coffees. Lotor, hating the quietness in the soft roar of the coffee shop, decided to speak. "So, what is it?" Lotor asked.  
"What is what?" Keith responded.  
"Well, it's obvious you don't come from wealth, so you must come a poor family?" Lotor questioned, side eyeing the boy to see his response.  
"That's a pretty personal question to ask asshole," Keith grumbled while crossing his arms.  
"It must be true since you didn't deny it my dear," Lotor responded with a knowing smile.  
"Don't call me dear," Keith looked towards Lotor angrily.  
"Don't call me asshole," Lotor answered like an asshole.  
"Don't ask me personal questions like that then," Keith spoke. Lotor knew when to stop though, and he dropped it there with a nod. Their coffees were ready soon after.  
"Would you be so kind as to keep me company here?" Lotor asked Keith. "There's a pair of seats over there we could sit at." Keith seemed hesitant.  
"I'd rather not," Keith said.  
"Please, what must I do to get you to sit with me for 20 minutes?" Lotor begged. He really hated sitting alone.  
"Hmm, buy me a cinnamon roll rich boy," Keith decided. He narrowed his eyes at Lotor like it was a challenge.  
"I can do that, in the meantime, please save us some seats," Lotor smiled and got back in line to get the boy his cinnamon roll.   
Lotor came back fifteen minutes later with a warm cinnamon roll to give to Keith. "Here you go, one warm cinnamon roll," Lotor said as he sat down and handed Keith the sweet food. "Now, if you don't mind me asking, could you tell me why you were fighting with your Shiro was it? He only seemed to be concerned for your welfare yet you looked like you wanted nothing more than to rip his head clean off his shoulders?" Lotor asked, nearly certain that he was about to be murdered for the question. Keith sighed.  
"Well, I'm sure you heard the part where I don't go to class often," Keith said avoiding eye contact again.  
"Yeah I did, and I've noticed I'll go weeks at a time now before I see you going to class. I think every time I've spoken too you so far has been when you have decided to go to class. Why is that?" Lotor responded.  
"I just don't see the point in going to class if I get the material. And luckily, only one of my classes have an attendance policy, so I've been able to get by fine in my other four classes, but that god damn stupid fucking shakespeare class is fucking me over and I'm failing because I hate showing up to class," Keith said annoyance building in his voice. He sipped his coffee through his straw and ate some of his cinnamon roll.   
"Alright, but that doesn't explain why you nearly killed your boyfriend," Lotor continued.  
"Well, he's been up my ass about caring more about my grade in that class, and I've been telling him for weeks now that I would handle it and he didn't need to worry. But, he just couldn't trust that I could handle it, and I just exploded at him today. I didn't want to tell him about my plans to go see the dean until after I had met with her and got everything cleared up," Keith said dejectedly.  
"Well, what's the big deal if you failed a class, lots of people fail and they end up fine," Lotor asked. Keith hesitated again.  
"I'm... I'm here on a scholarship, a merit scholarship. I have to keep a high gpa or else I can't go here," Keith spoke quietly. Lotor understood now, Keith had to drop that class or risk his gpa going to low and being unable to attend this school. He must really come from an underprivileged family the poor dear, Lotor thought sadly.  
"Hey, don't look at me like that!" Keith was angry again.   
"Like what?" Lotor was confused.  
"Like.. like you pity me or something! Stop that right now!" Keith pointed at Lotor and scowled.   
"Sorry, I will never do that again," Lotor responded and went back to smiling. They both sipped their coffee then Lotor spoke again, "You should apologise to him you know."  
"Maybe," Keith responded.  
"No, you should. You two looked very happy together, I think you even smiled when you were with him," Lotor told Keith looking him dead in the eyes. Keith's eyes scrunched up in confusion.  
"How would you know if we were happy together? You've only ever seen us fight, and how do you know we're together?" Keith asked. Lotor realized there was no good way out of this, he was going to look like such a creep.  
"Well... you see, remember that day... when, well... yo- you, ugh," Lotor stammered.  
"English Lotor, english."  
"I... well, I was curious as to why you made me leave you after you finished class a few weeks ago. So, I decided to wait outside the door and watched you until I saw tall dark and handsome show up and when you two, well, uh, kissed I assumed he was your boyfriend," Lotor smiled sheepishly. Keith looked at him incredulously, mouth wide open.  
"You fucking creep," Keith deadpanned.  
"Well, if it's any consolation I think you two look cute together," Lotor said, digging his grave deeper.  
"The fuck," was Keith's response.  
"I ship it," Lotor said, only making matters worse.  
"Stalker," Keith said. Lotor gave a nervous chuckle.  
"Well, my creepiness is not the point, the point is you should apologize okay," Lotor said while pointing to Keith. Keith went to drink some more of his coffee, then suddenly stopped.  
"No wonder this coffee doesn't taste as good as usual," Keith said mostly to himself. He got up, walked to the counter, grabbed something, then returned. It was another straw. Keith placed the second small straw into the coffee.  
"Better," Keith said as he sipped away.  
"Does coffee taste better with two straws rather than one?" Lotor asked.  
"I don't speak to creepers like you," Keith replied, "but yes." And with that the pair sat quietly sipping their coffee's and Keith ate his food. I wonder why he hasn't left yet, Lotor thought.   
On the other side of things, Shiro had decided he would go back to the coffee shop. Normally he would have followed Keith because anytime they fought they always made up over coffee. Keith is probably still waiting outside the door for me, Shiro thought as he walked back to the coffee shop almost an hour after their fight. Shiro felt awful for the fight, but they've been having this fight over his grade in his Shakespeare class for weeks now and both of them handled the fight poorly. I should have trusted he would figure it out, Shiro thought, beating himself up over not trusting Keith. He knew after Keith saw the dean that the class would be dropped and his gpa and scholarship would be fine. God I can be such an idiot sometimes, Shiro thought to himself on his way to Keith. When he got to the doors, Shiro was surprised to see that Keith was nowhere to be found. Maybe he's inside. I have taken a long time to get here, Shiro thought as he opened the doors. He stepped inside and looked around trying to see if Keith was here, and failed to see him. Shiro went to sit down in one of the rocking chairs and was debating if he should text Keith or not when he heard giggling from behind him.  
"Is that Lotor's boyfriend you told me about?" A girl asked her friend.  
"Yeah he is, he's the guy," the other girl responded.  
"He looks so gloomy compared to Lotor, though," the first girl retorted. A moment passed and the girl spoke again, "Wait, he looks like the guy who was having a screaming match with some other guy an hour ago. It was so annoying, I could hear them from my dorm. All I wanted was another few minutes of sleep." At that comment Shiro re scanned the area in search for Keith. From his new vantage point he could better see the seats next to the window and spotted Keith. Then a beat later he saw the unmistakable white hair of who he presumed must be this Lotor. Boyfriend, they said. I knew something was up when I saw him hug that guy last month and Keith told me it was nothing. Keith never interacts with anyone on campus let alone touch anyone, Shiro thought heat rising in his face. He wanted to cry he was so heartbroken that his Keith would cheat on him. They had been best friends since childhood, and they had been dating for the better part of a year now. Shiro couldn't understand why Keith would do this. He had to turn away. Just as the tears began to well in his eyes his phone chirped. It was a text from Keith saying that he was sorry for overreacting and would like to apologize in person. He wanted Shiro to come to the coffee shop. This struck Shiro as odd: Keith, he rarely apologizes so Shiro was perplexed. Shiro turned around again and saw the pair stand up and head to the door. Shiro stood up and walk to the pair of doors at the far end of the coffee shop and slowly crept to the side of the wall nearest the doors Keith walked through and he began to eavesdrop.  
"Did you text your lovely Shiro?" Lotor asked.  
"Yeah, he hasn't answered, but when he comes he'll be expecting to meet me here," Keith said.  
"Well, alright then, I'll leave you to it. Make up with your boyfriend now. Like I said, I ship you two," Lotor spoke in a sing song voice.  
"Fucking creep," Keith started with a chuckle, "go."  
"Wow, was... was that a slight laugh I just heard? You can manage laughter? And to think I thought you had as much emotion as a rock," Lotor said incredulously while placing a hand to his own chest.  
"Please go, he doesn't like you, I don't want to start another fight," Keith started to do the shewing motion to make Lotor go away.  
"I could tell by the way he looked at me after your fight that he wanted my head on a platter," Lotor said as he walked off. "Good bye for now!"  
Shiro stood off to the side hidden by the wall for a few minutes thinking. So, is he cheating on me? Seemed like that guy was trying to help him. And he "ships" us, whatever that means, Shiro thought terribly confused. Suddenly he felt his phone vibrate, then a second later his ringtone started up. Shit, was the first thought for Shiro because as soon as that ringtone began he knew he was caught. Not even a millisecond later and Keith's head was popping up around the corner.   
"Shiro? How long have you been there?" Keith asked.  
"Uh," Shiro flubbed for an answer, "um, well, I dunno." Ten out of ten Shiro, what a well thought out response. Keith's face changed from confusion to annoyance.  
"You saw me talking to Lotor didn't you," Keith said. As Shiro was about to reply, Keith cut him off, "Babe, he is barely an acquaintance. Nothing more, nothing less. Please don't get upset like last time you saw me with him. He's the reason I texted you actually, so please don't be mad," Keith rushed his words. Shiro was quiet for a moment, but then spoke calmly.  
"Are you two dating?" Shiro thought he might as well come right out and ask. Better to rip the band aid off fast.  
"Him? God no, why- why the fuck would you even think that? I've only talked to him like, five times," Keith answered immediately. He gave Shiro a look of confusion again.  
"Those girls..." Shiro trailed off.  
"What Shiro!" Keith exploded a little, but he regained some semblance of composure, "what girls Shiro."  
"These two girls said that you two were together," Shiro spit out. Keith laughed. He actually laughed. And now it was Shiro's turn to be confused. "What is so funny?"  
Keith kept laughing for another minute before giving Shiro a response. "That day you saw him hug me? Well, he decided to make me his pretend boyfriend to get this girl to leave him alone, and I guess one of those two girls who were asking Lotor out must be in there right now. They only think we're together, but in reality, we barely know each other."  
"Why are you laughing, that's not really all that funny," Shiro asked.  
"What's funny is that you could believe I'd leave you for that white haired freak," Keith answered smiling. Shiro seemed to relax a bit at that. "So, coffee?" And with that the pair went inside.  
Back on the usual side of things, Lotor was snooping again. He heard the entire conversation from behind the other wall because he had to know if the two made up or not. Although he was slightly offended by the freak comment. I am certainly not freak, I am a masterpiece created by God himself, Lotor thought as he walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

And so two weeks pass by and Lotor is being drowned with all the papers and studying he has to do for finals. Death would be so very welcomed at this point, Lotor thought as he dropped his head onto his notebook. It was nearly 2 a.m. on Saturday and Lotor had decided fuck it, he was going to type up and finish his 3 essays that were due the upcoming week. I crave death, Lotor thought as he picked his head up and returned to typing. After another twenty minutes though Lotor wanted to rip his eyeballs clean out of his head, so he opted to go for a walk around campus instead. Living in San Diego, it was beautiful outside in the middle of the night. It was perfectly chilly with a slight breeze that blew Lotor's unkempt hair all over, and the moon was full and gorgeous. Lotor began his walk and slowly made his way to the christmas tree on campus. It was beautiful in it's own right, very neat and organized. The perfect balance of blue and silver ornaments, but Lotor has always prefered the messy trees filled with paper mache ball, clothespin reindeer, and colorful lights. Lotor smiled at the tree, looking forward to going home. His grandparents missed him, and he missed them even if he didn't always admit it. While admiring the tree Lotor heard the distinct sound of a book dropping. He whipped around to see who it was and lo and behold it was none other than Keith. "Hello my wonderful friend! What are you doing awake at this awful hour?" Lotor yelled in Keith's direction.   
"Going to commit mass murder," Keith replied. It didn't sound like he was joking, but it was probably because it was very early in the morning.  
"May I join you? Prison sounds better than studying at this point," Lotor thought back to his essays he had to finish then added, "much better." Lotor caught up to Keith and slung an arm around him. Keith removed him. "No love for me?" Lotor asked faking sadness.  
"None," Keith replied. The two walked quietly after that, apparently making their way towards the library. Lotor decided to make small talk.  
"So, did you ever talk to the dean?" Lotor asked.   
"I did," Keith answered.   
"You really going to make me beg for you to tell me how it went?" Lotor asked as he stepped in front of Keith so that he would pay attention to him. Keith looked up at Lotor and spoke nonchalantly.  
"Maybe I will." Lotor, being the most extra human being on earth, took that as a challenge. So, he dropped to his knees, placed his hands together as if he was about to pray, bent his head so that it touched Keith's boot, and began to beg.  
"Please, Keith, in all your wisdom and almighty grace, allow me to know, a mere peasant, how your meeting with the all powerful dean went. I beg of you to tell me of this arduous journey you have taken. I must know for if I don't-" a hand clasped over Lotor's mouth.  
"Could you never speak ever again," Keith said crouched down at eye level with Lotor. Keith was annoyed, Lotor could tell by his eyes. Lotor removed Keith's hand from his mouth.  
"Are you going to tell me or must I continue?" Lotor asked with a smirk.  
"Alright, ut went well. I was able to drop the class I was failing and can still keep my scholarship," Keith replied as he stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a couple essays to type," Keith said as he continued to walk toward the library. Lotor caught up quickly.  
"How funny, I have essays to write too," Lotor said, "want to sit together while we work?"   
"Do you not have friends, or do you derive enjoyment out of bothering me every chance you get?" Keith answered. Now it was Lotor's turn to hesitate.  
"Uh," Lotor began as a slight blush ran up his cheeks, "Both I guess." Lotor was very quiet. Keith noticed he'd hit a nerve and stopped walking to turn around and look at Lotor.  
"Sorry man, I-I didn't mean it in any-" Keith started, but Lotor was quick to cut him off.  
"It's fine, honestly, I'm used to being the pretty boy with no friends at this point," Lotor said with a nervous chuckle and he placed his left hand on the back of his neck. Despite the chill, intelligent, smart ass persona he takes on in everyday life, Lotor is inclined towards self-deprecation often. He cleared his throat, "Anyways, I think I left my notebook in the library, so I need to go get that, bye now," Lotor wanted to take a spoon and cut out his tongue so he never spoke again. He was swiftly walking to the library when Lotor heard the pitter patter of feet running and then a tap on the shoulder.  
"I'll sit and write with you," Keith told him. Lotor couldn't help but smile.  
And that's how the two boys stayed up until 7 in the morning on Saturday. "I think my soul has left my body and has gone into a different plane of existence," Keith whispered leaning back in his chair.  
"You have a soul?" Lotor asked quietly as he slowly sank into his chair.  
"Not anymore," Keith rolled his head toward Lotor.  
"I think these essays have greased me up and fucked me so hard I now have not one, not two, not even three, but four assholes now," Lotor said muffled, now face down on the floor.  
"I hope you know a good plastic surgeon then," Keith replied with no energy.   
"Maybe I'll die, like Mr. Hands," Lotor said, sprawling out onto the floor under the computer. Keith peaked into Lotor's cubby and looked at him on the ground.  
"Are you talking about that video where the guy gets fucked by a hoarse?" Keith questioned.  
"Yes I am," Lotor answered while shaking his ass.  
"Gross," Keith responded.  
"I think I'll take a nap here for a while," Lotor decided. Just as he was about to actually fall asleep his ass was kicked over.  
"Get up and go home Lotor," Keith admonished him. Somehow, Keith looked wide awake. As if the guy hadn't just been up all night. Keith stood up from his seat and began to stretch.  
"Are you not tired?" Lotor asked, lying on his side on the ground.  
"Eh," was Keith's answer. He grabbed his books and stared at Lotor, waiting. Lotor grumbled, but got up anyway and followed Keith outside. "I hate whispering," Keith said at normal volume now. Never would have guessed that one. Not as if you had no issue participating in a yelling match in public or anything, Lotor thought.  
"Talking about not being quiet, did you make up with your lovely boyfriend," Lotor asked cockily since he knew the answer. Keith started to walk toward his dorm, and Lotor followed because he was expecting a response.  
"Yes, we did," a soft smile replaced Keith's usual scowl as he spoke. That Shiro must really make him happy, Lotor thought as they continued their walk.  
"That is good to hear Keith, very good," Lotor said as they passed the Christmas tree on campus. Lotor took a quick second to admire the tree again before asking, "What are your plans for break?" Now, Lotor was not aware that this was the worst question to ask. He learned very quickly of his mistake when Keith snapped at him.  
"Again with the personal questions that are none of your goddamn business," Keith turned to his left and stopped so he could properly lay into Lotor. "Who do you think you are asking me personal questions like that, as if we were friends or something?" That was a painful blow for Lotor, but he stood there and took it. "We've only talked a few times, not enough to warrant a friendship," Keith did not yell, but the heat behind his words were felt. Lotor's heart broke a little because after their talk over coffee he thought they were becoming friends. He thought he was finally going to have a friend again. "I'm going to my dorm, bye," and with that Keith left. Lotor stood there for a moment more, confused and heartbroken. It is what it is, Lotor thought to himself, suddenly even more exhausted than he was a few minutes ago. He walked back to his little apartment nearby and passed out until three in the afternoon because he still had to study for his other two finals. I'm not going back on campus today, Lotor decided.


	5. Chapter 5

As expected, Lotor passed all of his finals, and he was finally on his way back home to New Jersey. He was looking forward to seeing his grandparents and being home for a little while. Lotor arrived at the Philly airport at 2 in the afternoon on the 23rd and his grandfather was outside waiting for him. The entire ride back home was peaceful. Lotor told his grandfather about his classes and San Diego in general and his grandfather told him about the cats and his newest carpentry project. When they finally arrived home, his grandmother had a huge pot of vegetable soup waiting for him which he was so excited to have. Lotor's grandfather happily watched him eat at the counter. Turned out his grandmother had a doctors appointment, but she came home an hour or so after Lotor arrived. Of course Lotor loved his grandmother, but she had this magical ability of bringing up topics he didn't want to talk about.  
"So have you made any friends in California sweetheart," she asked all smiles and teeth. It took all of Lotor's strength to not give her attitude because the whole conversation with his not friend Keith was still a fresh wound.  
"No grandmother, I have not unfortunately," Lotor began slightly annoyed but ended sounding sad. He looked down at the table as if the 1990's countertop was the most fascinating thing he has ever seen. His grandmother came over to him and stroked his white hair.  
"It's alright sweetie, you'll make friends again. I know things have been hard ever since you and your old girlfriends broke apart, but things will get better, I promise," his grandmother comforted him the best she could.   
"Thanks." Lotor tried to smile and his grandmother went back into the kitchen to find everything and anything to feed Lotor. After a couple of minutes though, Lotor decided to do the one thing that makes him feel better when he's sad: play the piano. He's not spectacular, he's primarily self taught, and he hasn't played in months, but it still gives him some peace to play. After an hour, he decided he was tired, so he went back into his old bedroom and went to sleep with his grey cat Seven curled around his chest. He heard the heater kick on and smiled. Smells like Christmas, Lotor thought as he drifted to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The break passed by faster then Lotor expected and suddenly it was the first day of the second semester. He was taking another biology class, but this time he had a lab attached to it and he was dreading it. And of course the lab was today from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Stupid core curriculum, Lotor complained to himself as he made his way to the science building. Lotor walked in about 5 minutes late since his other class is on the other side of campus so seat choices were limited. Actually, there was only one seat left, and it happened to be right next to a certain boy who told him to basically fuck himself before break. Well, fuck me backwards and call me Trixy, Lotor thought as he went to sit down. Lotor gathered his balls together and made the choice to pretend the boy never hurt him.  
"Well hello my little..." Lotor didn't want to call him "friend" so he trailed off for a moment, "...acquaintance." Lotor smiled. Keith looked a little sad at Lotor's word choice. "It would appear we are in the same wretched lab together."   
Keith's expression went from sad to annoyed. "It would seem so," Keith answered. He pulled out his phone and began to scroll through instagram clearly showing his disinterest toward Lotor. Lotor did the same until the professor finally showed up.   
The man had the craziest mustache Lotor had ever seen and that was about all he remembered from the four hour lab. As he gathered his notebooks together, Lotor could swear he felt eyes piercing through him. When he looked back he saw Keith staring at him like he wanted to say something, but as Lotor opened his mouth to speak Keith turned around and walked away. So much for making up I guess, Lotor thought. He watched Keith walk out the door and as it shut he saw Shiro come and give the boy a hug. Aren't they cute, Lotor smiled to himself and continued to gather his things. Then he felt eyes piercing him once more. This time it was one of the guys who was sitting at his lab table. He had short brown hair and appeared to be Cuban. He had a shit eating grin splayed across his face.  
"You like him don't you?" the boy sang at him.   
"Lance, you can't say that to people," the bigger boy who sat next to Lance chidded. Lance just brushed the guy off.  
"So do you? You were looking at him so fondly I thought that you might like him," Lance asked wiggling his eyebrows. Lotor rolled his eyes at the boys antics.  
"Why are you so interested... Lance?" Lotor questioned side eyeing the boy. Lance's friend looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock.  
"I just love love is all, so do you?" Lance's eyes widened awaiting a response.  
"Well, if you must know, I do like him, but as a friend," Lotor answered. "Plus, if you weren't watching as he left, he very clearly has a boyfriend." Lance just shook his head and looked at his friend.  
"Hunk, it would appear our loverboy doesn't realize that he likes that brooding fellow," Lance sad sullenly to Hunk.  
"Leave them alone Lance," Hunk responded while pulling Lance away and out the door.  
"No promises," Lance said while pointing finger guns toward Lotor as he was dragged out the door.  
I should have dropped this class, Lotor reprimanded himself.


	7. Chapter 7

So, for the next month Lotor had to deal with Lance trying to get him to go on a date with Keith. The second lab they had together they had to dilute bacteria and plate the stuff and Lance, instead of helping, was standing behind Lotor as he did the dilution and whispered about how cool Keith looked in his red jacket. When that didn't get a rise out of Lotor, Lance proceeded to talk about Keith's ass and how he wondered if it jiggled when smacked. Unfortunately for Lance, Keith had come back from grabbing the plates and heard the ass comment. Lotor no longer had the diluted bacteria in his hands, instead Keith did, and he was pouring it down Lance's throat. The horror on Lance's face was almost comical, if only the bacteria wasn't somewhat harmful to humans. So, rather than telling our professor, he decided to go throw up in the bathroom for ten minutes and web MD what might happen to him. When he came back he let us all know that he would like to be buried in a mahogany casket and for there to be white and purple flowers placed inside it with him. Hunk went and asked the professor what to do in the hypothetical situation that someone drank some of the bacteria, and it turns out throwing up was part of the solution but Lance had to also get some medicine too. "How the hell can you like that," Lance angrily whispered to Lotor.  
"Funny story, I don't like him like that," Lotor answered stifling a laugh.  
By the third lab though, Keith and Lotor were back on speaking terms since the both thought Lance was a complete and utter idiot, so Lotor could be thankful for at least that. However, Lance did not know when to quite, so when he saw the pair speaking, he came over and "accidentally" bumped into Lotor and he toppled over Keith.  
"I am so sorry, I did not mean-" Lotor was abruptly cut off by Keith pushing him off him and standing up.   
"I guess you really like that bacteria," Keith said, flames in his eye. Keith, giving absolutely no fuck, opened one of the plates with grown bacteria, wiped his hand on the plate to pick up the bacteria, and with his clean hand grabbed Lance by the neck, pulled him close, and he rubbed the bacteria on his face and tried to get it in his mouth again. Lotor had never seen the showers activated in a lab class before then. Lance looked like a sad wet puppy after the ordeal. Lotor and Hunk couldn't stop from laughing at Lance's pain, and Keith managed a small chuckle.  
"Hey, I think that I heard you semi laugh again," Lotor said to Keith smiling brightly. "It sounded pretty cute." Keith turned slightly red around his nose and cheeks at that comment.  
"Well I think he's evil," Lance said in response.  
The forth lab Lance decided he was going to organize a study group with everyone so that they could all work together on their lab report. No one really had a say, and by the end of the lab it was decided that on Saturday they would get together at McDonald's. Keith was initially against the idea of meeting up, but after Lotor mentioned how happy it would make Shiro to know he's working well with others, Keith became more open to the idea.  
So this is how Lotor ended up alone with Keith at a McDonald's at two in the afternoon. Lotor should have known something was amiss when Lance had suggested a get together to work considering the boy does anything but work. Now, since Keith had told Lotor they weren't friends, their relationship became strained because Lotor didn't want to face rejection by him again. But, Lotor still held a form of interest in Keith, so he still made an effort to try and be friendly with him. However, the pair had not been alone together since their fight, so this was a little weird. Lotor had arrived first, so he picked a booth and sat down. He waited for another fifteen minutes before Keith came and sat down on the opposite side.  
"You're here early, were you so excited to see me you just could not wait a moment longer," Lotor said casually. He placed both of his palms under his chin awaiting a response from Keith.  
"It's literally 1:59, that's far from early," Keith responded blandly. As usual, no expression, Lotor sighed. They sat in awkward silence for another 10 minutes before Keith spoke up. "Where the fuck are they? I could be doing other things right now," Keith said annoyed.  
"Like Shiro," Lotor stated matter of fact. Keith glanced up to give Lotor his signature death glare.  
"Shut your filthy mouth," Keith responded. Lotor couldn't help himself, so he continued.  
"You know," a shit eating grin slowly crept upon Lotor's face, "I write fanfictions about you two," Lotor wiggled his eyebrows at the statement. Keith looked appalled with his mouth wide open and eyes wide. "You're all like," Lotor raises the pitch of his voice, " 'Oh Shiro!'", Lotor speaks normally again, "and Shiro's all like," Lotor drops the pitch of his voice, "'Yeah baby.'" When Lotor finishes, he notices that Keith has gone beat red. He was suddenly a tomato. Keith's pigment was now the color of the devil himself. Lotor could not help but giggle, and quickly that giggle spread to a laugh and he was nearly crying. Keith just sat there, gaping. He kept opening and closing his mouth as if he was going to say something. As Lotor was still laughing Keith spoke.  
"I'm going to get some food." So Keith got up and made his way to the counter for food while Lotor was still beside himself as Keith ordered an oreo McFlurry. Now, Lotor's back was to the counter, so he could not see Keith walking back with his McFlurry. Lotor was nearly done laughing when he felt something very cold on his head. It took him a moment to register that something weird was going on, and by then it was too late because Keith was raking the McFlurry through Lotor's hair like shampoo. Lotor pulled away, and of course Keith's fingers got caught on some knots so Lotor yelped.  
"Get you fucking fingers out of my hair," Lotor snarled.  
"Get your fucking hair out of my fingers," Keith retorted smugly.  
"That-that doesn't even make any sense! Just-" Lotor was thoroughly annoyed now, "let's go to the bathroom." Lotor began to stand up out of the booth and made his way to the bathroom with Keith's fingers still locked in his hair. There were plenty of people in McDonalds too so Lotor slowly turned red from embarrassment. They got in the bathroom and Lotor heard giggling that turned to laughter.  
"Oh this must be so funny dicking with my hair like this," Lotor said annoyance obvious.  
"You said I should laugh more, beggars can't be choosers," Keith said through spurts of laughter.  
"Just- just fucking... ugh come here, I need to put my head under the sink to get this shit out and to get your fucking fingers out," Lotor said while bending down to put his head in the sink. "You happy now dear," Lotor snarled again.  
"Are you embarrassed asshole," Keith responded.  
"Maybe," Lotor answered grudgingly.  
"Then yes, yes I am," Keith said with an evil smirk.  
"Lance was right, you are evil," Lotor said under his breath.  
"What was that?" Keith asked, knowing exactly what Lotor said.  
"Nothing, now help me clean up," Lotor said quickly while turning on the facet. "My hair is going to be absolutely disgusting," Lotor grumbled. After ten minutes of thorough scrubbing, the McFlurry and Keith's fingers were out of Lotor's hair, but his hair was dripping wet.  
"People always say I'm dripping with good looks," Lotor said, his head still in the sink.  
"This isn't Ouran you trash can," Keith said while removing his jacket.  
"You watch anime?" Lotor asked honestly surprised. Keith grabbed Lotor's hair and twisted it with his hands wringing it dry as best he could.  
"Yeah, surprised?" Keith answered.  
"A little. You seem to rough and tough to liked that stuff," Lotor answered. Keith wrapped his jacket around Lotor's hair and began to rub it dry.  
"Well, anime is kind of my escape from reality, and ya know, when you're in a shit mood a sweet anime always helps," Keith stated. He continued to rub Lotor's hair. "Alright, I think it's dry enough. You can flip your hair back," Keith told Lotor.  
"How'd you know how to do that? It's not like you have long hair," Lotor asked while he tried to fix his messy hair in the mirror.  
"My grandmother," Keith began to smile fondly, "She loved her hair. But as she got older it got harder for her to take care of it, so I would help her so she wouldn't have to cut it. Helping her dry it was something I always did," Keith finished that with a smile.  
"My oh my Keith. You sure are full of surprises aren't you?" Lotor turned back to face Keith with a smile.  
"Shut up," Keith went to open the door. When he pulled the door he was greeted by two idiots falling into the bathroom.  
"You two were eavesdropping? How long have you two been here?" Keith asked angry again as usual.  
"Since before Lotor showed up?" Lance nervously chuckled. Hunk stayed quiet as he stood up from the floor.  
"Before I deem murder a better option than working with you two, let's get to it," a vein was practically popping out of Keith's neck as he spoke, and all three boys knew they better get to work. But as Lance stood up, he whispered to Lotor.  
"You definitely like him," and he walked away. Lotor noticed Keith had left his jacket on the sink, and as he picked it up and remembered Keith drying his hair Lotor realized he was fucked. Shit, he's right, Lotor thought.  
Lotor realized he had at least a mini crush on Keith. Like, he follows Keith whenever he sees him, he forgave Keith for hurting his feels, and he thinks Keith is cute. Keith's like a feral cat Lotor can't help but adore. So Lotor walked back to the booth looking only somewhat mortified at his revelation, and, of course, Lance and Hunk sat together, so Lotor had to sit next to Keith.   
"Alright guys, you wanted to waste my time here, so we might as well do something productive. Let's get to work," Keith said still annoyed.  
"Aye aye captain," Lance said while pulling a laptop out of his bag. Hunk copied him. "Hey, wait a minute. Why don't you two have your laptops?" Lance questioned suspiciously.  
"I do all of my work on my phone," Lotor answered as he pulled his samsung galaxy s8 out from his pocket.  
"Me too," Keith agreed while waving his iphone 8 for emphasis.  
"Weird. Okay guys, so who wants to do-" Lance began before Keith cut him off.  
"Okay, Lotor you do materials and methods and results. Hunk, you do the introduction. I'll do the discussion. Lance... you can do the references, title, authors, and abstract," Keith decided. Lance looked offended.  
"Why are you giving me the simplest tasks?" Lance asked clearly very offended. His eyes narrow, awaiting a response.  
"Well, if you must know why I assigned who which part it's very simple," Keith pointed at Lotor, "Lotor actually did most of the experiment, therefore he should know the methods, materials, and results best," Keith pointed at Hunk next, "he cares enough to do good research considering he was smart enough to ask the professor what to do when ingesting bacteria instead of webMDing it," then Keith pointed to himself, "and I understand the big picture and the implications of the experiment for the real world," finally Keith points to Lance, "all you did during the experiment was talk about my ass and eat bacteria, and you did nothing to prove to me that you are capable of doing anything else besides riding off our backs to get a good grade, so you get the parts where you piggyback off our work, " Keith stated. Lance physically deflated and began to mumble about what a dick Keith was and how he did not piggyback off of them. Lotor and Hunk just sat their gaping for a moment. Hunk placed a hand up to his mouth to fake whisper to Lotor,  
"Did Keith just compliment us?" Hunk asked.  
"I believe he did," Lotor answered, placing his hand up to fake whisper back.  
"Get to work you two, you're starting to piss me off," Keith said while violently tapping away on his phone.  
"I'm beginning to think you are forever angry," Lotor said as he began to type on his phone as well. He didn't get a response.  
So they all sat there for about four and a half hours working on their paper in complete silence. All four boys were relieved when Lance finally sighed and announced they were finished.  
"Woohoo," Lotor mocked."Well, I'm about ready to head home," Lotor declared as he stood up and stretched.   
"Me too," Keith nodded, not moving from his seat.  
"Wait wait wait wait wait. Hold up," Lance said while shaking his hands. "None of us have eaten since we got here. Why don't we get some food and eat?" Lance suggested.  
Lotor was about to protest when Keith's stomach growled.  
"Ya hungry?" Lotor questioned raising an eyebrow in amusement. Keith turned red for the second time that day.  
"No," Keith responded looking down at the table. Lotor waited a moment before speaking again.  
"Keith, come with me to the bathroom please," Lotor asked.  
"Why?" Keith was perplexed.  
"Because I am on my period," Lotor said sarcastically before adding, "why does it matter? Just come," Lotor grabbed Keith's arm and forcibly removed him from the booth and took him to the bathroom. When the door closed Lotor turned to face Keith and spoke again. "Why are you going to lie straight to my face like that? Clearly you are hungry, your stomach spoke for you," Lotor asked with a hint of anger in his voice. Keith, for once, looked small. Lotor backed off a little when he spoke again. "Keith," suddenly it dawned on him, "do you not have money for food?"  
"The three dollars I had ended up in your hair," Keith said sheepishly.  
"Listen, Keith, I like to think of you as my friend," Lotor sighed, "I know you don't," Keith looked like he was about to protest, but Lotor continued, "but that doesn't matter," Lotor placed his right hand on Keith's left shoulder, "I see you as a friend, and I take care of my friends. That means if you're hungry, but can't afford to eat, I am going to buy you some dinner. Understand?" Lotor looked Keith in the eyes awaiting a protest when Keith's stomach growled again. "Your stomach understands, let's go and get some food now," Lotor smiled and went to hold the door open for Keith. Keith hesitated for a moment then walked out the door with Lotor trailing close behind. Hunk and Lance were quietly gossiping at the booth and quickly shut up when the pair came back from the bathroom and stood by the table.  
"You powder your nose Lotor," Lance asked smugly.  
"Actually I had to powder my ball sac, but thanks for the concern," Lotor answered as if that were a normal response. Everyone was quiet after that and was looking at Lotor strangely. Lotor didn't even flinch. "So are we going to indulge in some fast food or not?"  
"Oh yeah, we are," Lance answered. He pushed Hunk to get him to leave the booth faster then the pair made their way to the counter.  
"So, what would you like to get?" Lotor asked Keith as they strolled up to the register.  
"I'll get whatever you get," Keith answered trailing behind Lotor. Keith seemed embarrassed, so Lotor didn't want to make him even more embarrassed then he already was.  
"If I get something you don't like let me know, okay?" Lotor said side eyeing Keith. Keith nodded and so Lotor went and got them some chicken nuggets, fries, and two McFlurries. Lance, having seen Lotor buy food for two, felt the need to come directly behind Lotor and whisper in his ear.  
"You're buying his food, how sweet! It really is a McDate isn't it?" Lance whispered causing Lotor to turn bright red again. He didn't give a response back. What didn't help the situation though, was when Keith suggested they sit with the table that had a booth and chair.  
"Why?" Lotor asked, not understanding the desire to change seats.  
"Don't question me," Keith responded as he took his food and placed it in front of one of the chairs. Of course Hunk and Lance raced to sit it the booth leaving Lotor stuck sitting next to Keith, but at least it was a chair right? They couldn't accidently touch each other or anything right?   
Wrong. Lotor realized Keith's reason to change to chairs from the booth too late. When Lotor sat down Keith stood behind his chair and began to card his fingers through Lotor's hair which caused him to turn even redder than he already was. Not to mention, Lotor's eyes were practically bulging out of his head. Lance began to raise his eyebrows suggestively, and Hunk sat there with a small smile as he watched the whole ordeal.  
"Keith... u-uh what are you doing," Lotor asked uneasy.  
"I'm going to french braid your hair," Keith answered as if the answer was obvious. By this point, Lance seemed like he was about to combust. Why is he doing that, Lance mouthed to Lotor. Lotor, being the most incompetent mouth reader, mouthed back warily, What is that. Lance shook his head. Lance mouthed again, Why is he braiding your hair. Lotor tried again to mouth what he thought he saw, whorehouse. Lance shook his head no rapidly. Lotor tried once more to mouth the question back, why is he running away. Lance performed a slow blink at Lotor as if he may be the stupidest human being he's ever met. By this point, Keith had begun braiding.  
"You guys should probably start eating before your stuff gets cold," Keith said while casually braiding Lotor's hair. The three boys mhmmed in agreement and began to eat their food in silence. Keith finished braiding after a minute or so and asked Lotor for a hair tie to tie his hair up. Lotor relinquished the tie, and Keith finally sat down and ate as well. Lotor was still bright red. The bright blush slowly faded though as they ate, and soon the four of them were finished.  
"Alright, this time I really have to go," Lotor said standing again and stretching.  
"Me too," Keith chimed as he took his phone out.  
"See you guys later then. Bye-bye for now," Lance cooed.  
"See you two soon," Hunk said heartly while waving.  
Both Lotor and Keith waved, threw out their trash, and headed outside. As Lotor made his way to his car Keith grabbed his arm and stopped him.  
"Thank you," Keith said looking at the pavement outside. Lotor's heart melted at the words.  
"Anytime Keith," Lotor responded with a warm smile. "You have a ride?" Keith let go of Lotor.  
"Yeah, Shiro's going to pick me up. I'll see you at lab. Bye Lotor," Keith gave Lotor a smile and Lotor felt he could die of happiness.   
"Thanks for the braid. Bye Keith," and with that Lotor was off toward his car. Butterflies were fluttering in his stomach and he was so very happy. But, as Lotor sat in his jeep his heart sank. Why does he have to have a real boyfriend, Lotor thought.  
After their McDate, Keith began to act more friendly towards Lotor. Keith even asked for Lotor's number because he wanted to hang out with Lotor. However, these positive interactions spurred Lance into constantly messing with Lotor. Since Lance was well aware of Lotor's feelings toward Keith, he was sure to tease him for it, especially anytime Keith gave Lotor the occasional smile. Obviously Lance had learned his lesson about being too loud for Keith to hear him, so he began to whisper every comment he had to Lotor, and now that Lotor had finally realized his feelings he had to suffer through blushing at inopportune times. For example, when Lance commented on how brightly Keith smiled at him when Lotor called Lance a twat waffle for accidently sucking up an ant while they were collecting them for lab. Lotor was so red several students asked if he was allergic to some insect they collected. Or when Lance commented on how cute it was when Lotor helped Keith down from a tree when Keith was collecting leaves. Lotor blushed to the point Keith thought he may have gotten sunburn and, for whatever reason, Keith whipped out a bottle of sunscreen from his backpack and was hell bent on putting it on Lotor so that he wouldn't burn anymore. Clearly Lotor couldn't tell keith no, so he had to use it. But, either way, Lance's antics did help the pair get on friendlier terms which was amazing. A few times throughout March Keith had actually invited Lotor to have some coffee with him. Lotor quickly learned that Keith wasn't one for planning, so Lotor would just get a text once or twice a week asking if he wanted to go and get some coffee right then and Lotor always said yes because honestly, he had very little else to do beside study, and who wanted to do that all the time. So Lotor would arrive, and Keith would be standing outside waiting for him, the two would go inside, Keith would pick a spot, and Lotor would go and get their coffees. He made sure to never forget the double straws for Keith. Gradually the two got to know more and more about each other between these coffee hang outs. They started off with talking about simple things that aren't too personal because Lord knows Lotor learned his lesson from last time. The first thing they started with was anime. It turned out that they had watched many of the same animes, however Lotor had seen many more anime's than Keith by a longshot. Anyway, they rattled on about how they wished Ouran had a second season, they ranted about their favorite characters in Bleach (Keith loves Grimmjow while Lotor loves Urahara), and they talked about how great the next season of Attack on Titan is going to be. Lotor learned that Keith's favorite color is red because it reminds him of passion. Lotor also learned he adores cats. Eventually Lotor gained the courage to ask a personal question: how did Keith and Shiro meet. When Lotor asked this, he had earned a contemplative look from Keith. It looked like Keith was tossing the idea of answering him around in his head before he spoke.  
"Well, we are both from this area so we went to the same high school. Shiro was loved by everyone. Literally everyone. He was smart, funny, outgoing, athletic, kind," Keith seemed to drift off a but before returning, "so I hated him. I was in 6th grade and he was in 8th when we officially met, and we met in gym class. My school was weird because for the first half of the year 6th graders took health, so by the second half of the year my hatred for the legendary Shiro was known by all. Anyways, we were playing a variation of dodgeball, and the gym teachers were sadistic, so first gym class of the year they pitted the 8th graders against the 6th graders," Keith chuckled at that, "So, obviously most of the 6th graders got demolished, and I was one of five 6th graders left and somehow I was able to hit the untouchable Takashi Shirogane," Keith smiled wide at the memory, "Everyone on the 8th grader side went quiet and watched and Shiro walked over to the wall to sit out. Now, I had no idea Shiro was practically the king of dodge ball. For three straight years he never got out, then I come along and dethrone him," Keith pointed to himself, "Of course all balls were thrown at me at that point, all at the same time, and I had to go to the nurse afterwards for a bloody nose and a black eye. What was strange was that Shiro had come to the nurses office to see if I was alright. Like, I made it known I hated the guy, and he had to of known, yet he still came to check up on me," Keith let out a sigh and took a sip of his coffee before continuing, "After that incident it seemed to have become Shiro's life goal to befriend me. Now don't get me wrong, it took him many tries to gain my trust, but he eventually earned it. That was around the end of the year though, so it took him about five months after we met."  
"You've certainly become harder to befriend," Lotor commented.  
"That comes with age. Anyways, we've been friends since middle school and as I got older I realized I was attracted to guys and since Shiro was really my only friend I started to get feelings toward him in probably," Keith took a moment to think, "my senior year of high school so Shiro was in his second year here. I really fell for him, I fell for him hard actually. He was really my everything for everything. Eventually I grew a pair and asked him if he would ever consider being my boyfriend, and like the sweet guy he is he said yes. That was around a year or so ago now," Keith smiled toward the table, "I honestly had no idea he was into men. As soon as I figured out I was gay I told him immediately. I guess he was still figuring it out when I asked him out, so maybe he was just like 'fuck it, let's see how this goes' and went with it. No matter the case, we're still happy and together," Keith concluded.  
"A truly beautiful love story," Lotor said, his heart hurting just the littlest bit. It pained him to pretend being happy for him in his relationship despite wanting to be with Keith himself. These coffee conversations became deeper throughout the month and Lotor was happy to learn everything he could about Keith. Keith told Lotor about how his dad taught him how to build motorcycles before he died when he was ten. He told him about how he loved to draw when he's upset or happy or really any type of mood. Keith told him how he will never smoke because his mom died of lung cancer when he was seven. And he told Lotor how Shiro taught him to try and count when he's angry before he reacts because ever since he was in middle school he was prone to act before thinking.  
"That's why you were moving your lips real weird during our first few encounters? You were restraining yourself from fighting me?" Lotor asked incredulously.  
"Yeah, it's supposed to help with my impulsive and rash decisions I make in the heat of the moment, but I probably don't do it as much as I should," Keith admitted rubbing the back of his neck. Lotor sipped his coffee and rolled his eyes.  
"I'm sure if you asked Lance that he would agree," Lotor offered in response.  
Near the end of March Lotor finally asked about who Keith lived with for the past eight years of his life. Keith initially looked angered by the question, his eyes ready to kill him, but after a moment he calmed himself. He let out a sigh.  
"Do you remember when I told you how I helped my grandmother dry her hair?" Keith inquired. Lotor nodded in agreement. "Well, she took care of me. She actually took care of me for more like ten years, but who's counting," Keith mumbled before continuing.  
"Took?" Lotor was confused.  
"She died during my last year of high school. She... she had a really bad fall while I was at school and hit her head on the corner of the table in our living room," Keith sighed. He looked to be fighting back tears, "I came home and..." Keith trailed off, trying to compose himself.  
"How about you tell me some things about her?" Lotor asked seeing the pain it brought Keith to talk about her death. Keith smiled and let out a relieved breath.  
"Alright. So after my dad died, my grandmother got guardianship of me. She was so much fun to live with despite her age. She was the sweetest old lady. I can remember her always singing in stores while she shopped, and even though it embarrassed me, I wouldn't have had it any other way," Keith reminisced with a smile. He was looking off into space, lost in thought before remembering he was talking. Quickly, he returned his gaze to Lotor and continued, "She also loved to put my drawings and paintings up. Ever since I was seven she'd been putting my art up everywhere. God, it was awful to see those early 'masterpieces' considering how fucking awful I was," Keith chuckled a little at the memory of lopsided circles and sloped lines. "Oh, and she was obsessed with cooking. Her deep fried vegetables were great and her vegetable soup was amazing and her angel food cake was awesome," Keith smiled the entire time he talked. "When she was younger, she was a hairdresser, so she was really good with hair. She loved to do her hair in all types of styles, but as she got older it got harder for her to style her hair. She knew she was getting to that age where she should cut her hair off so that it would be easier to deal with, but she loved her hair. So I offered when I was living with her to help her with her hair. I still remember how happy she was when I offered that, and she took me up on it. So I can do all sorts of things with long hair now because she taught me. I loved her so much," Keith smiled at Lotor and then at his coffee. It seemed like Keith was finished talking.  
"She seems like a rather kind and loving woman. I would have loved to meet her," Lotor responded, staring at Keith as Keith drank some of his coffee.  
"Shiro loved her too. He learned how to cook from her actually. He was pretty upset about it when she passed away. I... I didn't show much emotion then. I was pretty closed off after that actually. It took Shiro months to get me to acknowledge his existence. My grandmother died in September of my senior year and it wasn't until about January that I started to talk to Shiro again," Keith said emotionless.  
"How'd he get you to talk to him?" Lotor asked, curiosity piqued.  
"Bottle of vodka on New Year's eve did the trick," Keith said with a humorless laugh. "Amazing how my angry detached façade breaks down in a matter of seconds when alcohol becomes involved. Let's just say many tears were spilt and hugs given on that night, and in the new year me and Shiro were best friends again. I'm glad he never stopped trying to be my friend despite me practically telling him to fuck off every time he tried to be my friend. Who knows what I'd be doing now," Keith looked off into space as he spoke those last few words.   
"There is no need to worry about the what ifs now. You are here doing your best, and that's what matters," Lotor smiled towards Keith as Keith's gaze came back to rest on Lotor's gentle eyes. Keith smiled back.  
"Thanks."  
That was the last coffee hang out they had, and Lotor had no idea why. Keith just suddenly stopped asked him to go get coffee with him the following two weeks. And the past two weeks Keith hadn't shown up to lab either.  
"Where the hell is he," Lance bitched at Lotor on the second time Keith didn't show. "I was willing to believe that he was sick the first time he missed, but there is no way the clit stick is sick two weeks in a row." Due to Keith's absence, Lance had to pick up some slack, and that involved googling information on the different plants they were examining because none of them knew what they were looking for on all the plants.  
"Lance, can you stop complaining and google the ploidy of ferns please? I understand technology, not biology, help a guy out," Hunk pleaded as he was picking off the black dots stuck to the back of the fern leaf. Hunk smiled mischievously. "Maybe Lotor pissed him off." Lotor looked positively offended. "I've seen you two hang out once or twice at the coffee shop on campus."  
"Are you stalking us?" Lotor asked angrily.  
"Well, if you consider the fact that there is only one coffee shop on campus, and I happen to need coffee to function throughout the day, and you two coincidental go to that same coffee shop, ya know the only one on campus, then no I am not stalking you at all," Hunk said nonchalantly, still picking off the dots of the fern.  
"You have a point," Lotor replied defeated.  
"So did you piss him off?" Hunk looked up at Lotor expectantly.  
"I do not believe so. Normally if I had he would have certainly let me know without a doubt," Lotor said musing over their last time hanging out. He was trying to see if Keith had at any point hinted that he was angry at him, but he could find nothing.  
"Have you tried texting him," Lance asked.  
"Ploidy Lance?" Hunk asked annoyed.  
"Diploid and haploid. Weird right?" Lance answered looking to Hunk. He looked and Lotor again awaiting a response.  
"Yes, but he has yet to respond in two weeks," Lotor answered sadness obvious. Lance walked over to him and patted his back.  
"It's alright buddy. I'm sure he'll come around. Plus, we have a test next week. He better show up," and with that Lance went back over to Hunk and started poking at the moss. I hope so, Lotor thought sadly.


	8. Chapter 8

Lance, Hunk, and Lotor were talking about trivial things when they all felt a dark presence enter the lab. Keith came and sat down and the table went silent. It was clear Keith wanted to be anywhere but where he was. The aura of anger was almost tangible around Keith.   
"So how've ya been buddy," Lance asked. Lance is the one with no common sense. You put him in front of a wild lion and he tries to tame it. He must wish for death secretly. Keith's signature death glare was sent Lance's way.  
"Put your arm on the table," Keith menacingly demanded.  
"Wh-"  
"Put it on the goddamn fucking table or so help me God Lance I'll fuck you over so hard on this test fucking the teacher couldn't even save your grade in this class," Keith began to count down from five indicating Lance had five seconds to do as he was told. Reluctantly Lance placed his arm out. Keith took the eraser end of his pencil and slammed it as hard as he could on Lance's forearm. Somehow Lance only made a small cry.  
"Speak to me again and you'll have lead in your arm," Keith growled. Not a soul spoke at that table after that. Ten minutes later they were given their tests, and thirty minutes later the test was over, but they still had three and a half hours left so they had a lab to do as well.  
"I'm leaving," Keith told the table. Lotor grabbed Keith's arm as he got up to go.  
"Please stay. Lance doesn't work as well as you," Lotor begged. Keith softed slightly at Lotor's words and touch.   
"I want to leave," Keith restated, but he didn't force Lotor to let go, and now Keith just looked depressed.  
"You two start the lab," Lotor pointed to Hunk and Lance, "We'll be right back." Lotor let go of Keith and motioned for him to follow him out into the hallway.  
"Keith, what is wrong right now? We need you here at lab with us," Lotor inquired, arms opened. Keith avoided eye contact opting to look at the floor instead. "Alright, I know when you refuse look at me you are not going to listen, but I will try anyway. Please, stay. You are already here. Come help us. Oddly enough, Lance misses you despite your abuse towards him. We are cutting stuff open today. It will be kind of like building a motorcycle, except backwards because we are taking it apart," Lotor tried to convince Keith to come back. A small ghost of a smile appeared on Keith's lips, but vanished just as fast.  
"I would have to say that what we're doing is nothing like building a motorcycle," Keith responded, face neutral.  
"You said 'we'. Does that mean you will help us?" Lotor asked expectantly. Keith sighed.  
"I guess."  
Lotor happily reopened the door for a slightly less angry Keith and they made their way back to their table.   
"Keith, can you grab us a bag with the fish, frog, and rat please?" Lotor asked pointing toward the back of the classroom. Keith didn't respond, but he went and did as he was asked. As soon as Keith was out of earshot Lotor gathered together with Lance and Hunk and whispered, "Alright guys, I am unsure as to why Keith is in such a foul mood, but be nice to him and do not ask about what is upsetting him," both Lotor and Hunk stared at Lance.  
"Alright, I get it. Fuck off you two," Lance whispered back with a wave of his hand.  
"This rat smells gross," Keith said as he placed the tray down with the plastic bag wide open. The three boys saw that there was only the fish and frog left in the bag. When they looked up, they were all mortified. There stood Keith, holding a dead white rat with its tongue sticking out and he was holding it right next to his nose.   
"Why are you holding that without gloves and why right up to your nostrils. I can smell it from here," Lotor said pointing at the rat. All three of them were bundled together in fear.   
"He must be really screwed up right now to do that," Hunk whispered to Lotor. Keith just looked at the rat and put it down.  
"Please go wash your hands and get a pair of gloves," Lotor asked speaking very slowly. Keith went and did as he was told. The bundle of boys detached from each other and looked at one another with bewilderment. They collectively understood that Keith needed to be treated gently because clearly he was not okay at the moment.   
The rest of the lab went by without a hitch. Keith cut everything up, and Lance was sure to keep his mouth shut for most of the lab. He was not going to risk a scalpel to the throat since Keith was more unpredictable than usual. As they cleaned up from lab, Lance finally spoke again.  
"Hey, so there is this really awesome party being thrown by the frat me and Hunk are in if you two want to come," Lance offered as he wiped the table down with ethanol. "There's going to be plenty of alcohol," Lance looked at Lotor and wiggled his eyebrows. "You can bring a date too," Lance winked Keith. Keith's face twisted in anger, but he spoke through gritted teeth.  
"I'll come, but I'll be coming alone," Keith aggressively started shoving things in his bag. "What's the address," Keith asked with annoyance.  
"It's on Goshen Street, house 223. It's on the side streets next to campus. Friday, 6 o'clock. Be there or be square," Lance threw some finger guns at Lotor and Keith as he followed Hunk toward the door.  
"So, I'll see you at the party?" Lotor asked looking at Keith.  
"Yeah," Keith left after that. No goodbye, he just left. Lotor just watched as Keith walked away.


	9. Chapter 9

And so Friday finally comes. Lotor decided to wear some makeup his grandmother bought him for once. I actually look quite ravishing with highlight, Lotor did a duck face toward the mirror then laughed at himself. He also put on some eyeliner and mascara before deciding to stop. Then he grabbed a pair of grey shorts, a short sleeve white button up, and his black flip flops. Lotor looked in his mirror and decided he hated his shirt. Then, after going through six more shirts, he settled on his light blue button up before heading out to the party. By the time Lotor arrived it was a little past seven. So he strolled in, fashionably late, on the hunt for anyone he knew. It did not take long for him to find Lance and Hunk in the middle of a game of beer pong. He walked directly behind Lance before speaking, "You seem to be having fun now aren't you?" Lotor had a smirk on his face as a very drunk Lance missed the other teams cups by a mile. "Well, you made an attempt," Lotor spoke in Lance's ear. Lance turned bright red as he felt Lotor's breath on his ear.  
"Hello sexy," Lance slurred as he looked up at Lotor. "Who gave you permission to... to... uh... whisper on my ear?" Lance questions as he poked a finger at Lotor. He nearly fell over, but Lotor caught him.  
"My friend, you seem to be a little off balanced. Shall we sit and talk instead?" Lotor laughed as he lead Lance to the nearest couch leaving poor Hunk to play on his own. As the pair reached the couch however, a very small girl with short brown hair and circular glasses seemed to be playing with Hunk, so Lotor did not feel bad for stealing Lance for a moment.  
"So what, do yo-yo-you want to make face with out me?" Lance asked staring at Lotor.  
"If you mean to ask if I want to make out with you, then no, I do not," Lotor said as he leaned back and placed an arm behind Lance.  
"Lotor, di-did you know that you are pretty. And your fa-face is sunny," Lance slurred as he sloppily placed a finger on Lotor's cheek where his highlight was.  
"You, my friend, are truly something else," Lotor smiled as he removed Lance's hand from his face. "I wanted to know if you have seen Keith yet."  
"Oh yeah! Last I saw hi-him he was touching noses with some guy in the living roo-oom upstairs," Lance tried his very best to point up.  
"Thank you. Maybe you should stay here for a bit," Lotor suggested as he got up.  
"Oh do-don't you worry, I am incapable of movement atm," Lance literally said texting lingo. Lotor rolled his eyes as he headed upstairs trying to figure out what the hell "touching noses" meant. It actually didn't take long for Lotor to spot keith since he wore the same red jacket he always wore. It didn't take Lotor long to figure out that what drunk Lance thought was "touching noses" was actually making out. Lotor was shocked. From where Lotor was standing, he could clearly see the left side of Keith's faced pressed up against some guy and said guy was practically pushing Keith into the couch. In all honesty, it looked like the two would have sex at any moment. Lotor regained his composure after a minute of gaping and he calmly walked over and forcefully removed the guy from Keith.  
"What the fuck man? If you want some from him get in line. It's my turn," the guy yelled at Lotor.   
"Get in-" Lotor's face twisted in confusion and anger before continuing, "Fuck off boy. I am taking my friend and leaving this area," Lotor went to grab Keith and the two of them went downstairs. Lotor tried to find a private corner somewhere but failed, so he decided that outside was for the best. The yard in the back was relatively large and not many people were outside. Lotor lead Keith to one side of the house, but was greeted with some guy getting a blowjob, so he opted for the other side of the house, but he was greeted with a girl getting eaten out, so, running out of options, Lotor decided to go to the back of the back yard and just had to hope he would find someone eating ass in the shadows. Luckily no one was that far from the house.   
"Sit," Lotor commanded to Keith. Keith was clearly drunk by the way he plopped down on the grass and started swaying back and forth as if there was music to be swayed too. Lotor sat down facing Keith. They were both crossed legged, but Keith was so drunk he wasn't even able to maintain eye contact for more than five seconds. "Keith, please, try and focus on me," Lotor pleaded softly while placing his hand on Keith's cheek. Keith closed his eyes and snuggled into his hand. "Keith, why were you making out with that guy?" Lotor asked confusion and hurt lanced in his words.  
"I ma-ade o-out with lo-lo-lots if boys," Keith answered with a smile still nuzzling Lotor's hand.  
"But why? Would this not make Shiro upset?" Lotor asked still very confused. Keith lifted his head from Lotor's hand at the mention of Shiro's name.  
"Fu-fu-fu-fuck him! He-he can eat a di-di-dick! I hate hi-him," Keith yelled while swaying. He seemed like he was about to fall over. Then he did. "Come lo-ok at the mo-moon with me-e,"Keith slurred. Lotor obliged. He crawled over and laid next to Keith and stared at the moon before asking.  
"Did you and Shiro break up?" Lotor whispered. There was silence for probably ten minutes as the two of them stared at the moon.  
"He sa-said he was trans-fering to-to a school i-in Massa-massachuse-setts by Ju-ju-ju-june. Better fo-for his major an-and they a-a-are go-ing to offer hi-him a job the-re re-researchin-ing spa-space stuff," Keith slurred. He was staring at the moon still, but Lotor looked over and could see the tears welling up in his eyes. "Wh-why would he ca-care if I started ho-hoeing around? No-not li-li-like he wants me. No on-e ev-ever wants me. No-not my mo-mo--mom, not my da-d, not my-y grandmo-m, n-ot even Shiro. Everyone al-always lea-ves me," by this point tears were streaming down Keith's face. Lotor just grabbed him, rolled Keith on top of himself, and hugged him as tightly as he could. Keith shoved his head in the crook of Lotor's neck and continued to cry.   
"It'll be alright. It'll be alright. My poor sweet dear, everything will work out. People care about you and want you," Lotor tried his best to sooth the drunk crying Keith, but to no avail. Eventually Lotor opted for simply petting Keith's hair in hopes that would soothe him. After twenty or so minutes of hugging, crying, and soothing Keith finally calmed down.   
"Feel any better?" Lotor asked the drunk Keith. Keith just shook his head in the crook of Lotor's neck. Lotor didn't think about his next action: he kissed Keith on the head.   
"Mmrrr," Keith's voice was muffled.  
"Come again?" Lotor asked. Keith lifted is head.  
"More," Keith begged.  
"More what?" Lotor questioned again, still confused.  
"More kisses," Keith begged again giving Lotor puppy dog eyes. It was hard to refuse him.  
"Keith, you are drunk," Lotor began before Keith cut him off.  
"Ca-call me my dear," Keith said as he leaned in close to Lotor's ear. Keith went back to the crook of Lotor's neck and began to bit and suck.   
"My dear, you must sto-," Lotor began as Keith bit lower on his neck causing him to stammer, "-op. You are drunk. Please, I do not want to push you away, and have you get the wrong impression." Keith stopped for a moment and gave Lotor a hard stare.  
"Then give me one go-od kiss," Keith demanded. Lotor relented. He placed his right hand on Keith's lower back, and his right hand tangled itself with Keith's beautiful black hair. Slowly he pulled Keith towards him and he gave him what he wanted. Their lips touched and Lotor knew immediately that it was going to be very difficult to part from these chapped lips. These lips that tasted like vodka were perfectly molded for his. And as soon as it happened, Lotor was quick to end it for fear of it going any further then he intended.  
"Satisfied?" Lotor asked.  
"No," Keith answered sadly. "I want more of your kisses shiny boy."  
"Is that a comment on my highlight?" Lotor chuckled as he held Keith's head in his hand. Keith nodded.  
"Maybe later Keith, for now you need to go relax," Lotor stood up and held a hand down to help Keith up. Keith placed both of his hands above his head.  
"Carry me," Keith demanded looking terribly childish. He was pouting. How can I say no to that?, Lotor thought to himself as he lifted Keith. He wrapped his legs around Lotor's waste and placed his head on his shoulder as he was carried.  
Rather than walking through the house Lotor decided to risk walking though blowjob alley because there would be less people to deal with. As he predicted, there were four guys getting blowjobs on the side of the house, so he walked as fast as he could to get out of there. He had parked a block away, so the walk wasn't bad. Keith started humming. It started softly, and Lotor initially couldn't hear it, he only felt the vibrations on his neck. Slowly Keith grew louder, and soon Lotor could hear it and recognized it as electric love by BØRNS. Once Lotor got to his car he gently placed Keith in the front seat and buckled him up. Keith was swaying his head back and forth still humming the song. Lotor walked around the to the driver side, plugged his phone in to the aux cord, and put on electric love. He thought Keith had wanted to hear that song, but apparently not because as soon as Keith actually heard the song he began to cry again.  
"Turn that fucking song off. Turn it off please," Keith pleaded through sobs.   
"Okay, okay, okay," Lotor reached over and started to pet Keith's hair in the now silent car, Keith relaxed as soon as the song was shut off, "What do you want to hear then?" Lotor asked.  
"I don't know. Pick something," Keith answered. He sounded a lot less drunk than before. But he was still very drunk if his inability to focus meant anything.  
"I like some broadway music, would you like to hear that?" Lotor asked as he removed his hand from Keith's face. Keith nodded. Quickly the car filled with the soundtrack to Dear Evan Hansen. They were able to get through three songs and then Lotor was parking on campus ready to help Keith to his dorm.  
"Can I stay at your place?" Keith asked quietly. "I don't want to go to my dorm... I'd rather stay with you," Keith begged quietly still. He must know I like him because how the hell am I supposed to tell him no, Lotor thought.  
"Of course. Are you alright with listening to the rest of the soundtrack to this musical?" Lotor asked as he backed out of the space.  
"Yeah," Keith answered closing his eyes. Lotor lived close by, so he was parking in the underground garage about fifteen minutes later. It was nearly eight thirty.   
"Keith," Lotor shook Keith lightly, "We have to get in the elevator to get up to my room." Keith opened his eyes slowly.  
"I told you to call me my dear," Keith answered.  
"My dear, you need to get out of the car," Lotor bent to Keith's whim. Lotor tried to figure out if he's always so pliant to the whims of those around him and decided no, he normally is pretty stubborn. "You coming or what?" Keith asked while heavily leaning upon the side of the car. Lotor got out and walked over to help Keith out. He slung his right arm around Keith's waist and then threw Keith's left arm around his neck. Despite Keith's ability to speak coming back, he was still rather off balanced and uncoordinated. Lotor hit the elevator button to go up and the pair stood there and waited. "I've always thought you were pretty," Keith admitted to Lotor freely. "I think I really liked your hair first though. It looks just like my grandmother's," Keith continued attempting to pet Lotor's hair with his left hand. "That's why Shiro didn't like you at first. Not only did he think I was cheating on him with you, but you were also pretty, just my type basically. But after he learned I barely knew you, he could believe I wasn't with you. I guess it helped he eavesdropped on our little conversation though. Knowing you were trying to help us make up after our fight probably helped," Keith was rambling now. He seemed happy, but suddenly became sad again. "He said he still wants to be my best friend. That he still loves me, but it won't work out us being together and all like a couple," Keith was crying again and the elevator finally showed up. Thank God there was no one in there.   
"Take a breath. Tell me the rest inside," Lotor said and Keith fell silent for the short ride up to Lotor's room. Tears still streamed down his cheeks. The elevator stopped on the fourth floor and Lotor took Keith to his apartment which was basically a left turn from the elevator. Once inside his apartment Lotor turned on the light near his door and then sat Keith on his pull out couch. Lotor then got Keith a water bottle from his fridge and handed it to him. "Drink some of this, alright?" Lotor crouched in front of Keith, his hands on both of Keith's knees, and he looked up at Keith's face waiting for him to drink some of the water. Once Keith drank some of the water Lotor stood up and sat next to him. "You were saying?" Keith wiped his dried tears and began again.  
"Well, I don't want to lose him. Even if we can't be together together I still want him to be a part of my life. We've been best friends for years and boyfriends for a year. But of course, I was so hurt I told him to go fuck himself and to never speak to me again. He hasn't tried to call me or text me since then and it's been three weeks," there were tears streaming down Keith's face again. He placed his head in his hands while he cried. Lotor pulled him in for a side hug and gently rubbed his side.  
"Have you tried to contact him?" Lotor asked gently.  
"...No," Keith relented.   
"Maybe you should try calling him. From what I can tell from your guys' relationship, Shiro is not about to drop you because you told him to," Lotor told Keith. "Tomorrow is Saturday. Call him tomorrow and meet up for coffee and talk." Keith chuckled a little.  
"That's normally how we make up," Keith said removing his head from his hands. Keith snuggled into the side hug after that. He must have been surveying the room though. "Why do you sleep in your living room and not your bedroom. I can clearly see a bed in the other room," Keith asked pointing an unsteady hand toward the room in question.  
"I have an awful fear of the dark," Lotor responded slightly embarrassed. "There is no light in there for whatever reason, so I sleep out here instead where I can watch TV and sleep with a light on," Lotor decided if Keith could spill his heart out to him he could tell him one of his irrational fears. Keith removed himself from the hug and stumbled toward the bedroom.  
"I like the dark. Let's sleep in here," Keith had made the executive decision that they were going to sleep together in his bed. "Shut the lights off and come on."  
"Whomst?" Lotor asked from his pull out couch.  
"C'mon! I am laying in here waiting for some cuddles!" Keith shouted. Okay, if he tries anything besides sleeping, I will remove myself, Lotor promised himself as he reluctantly shut off his lights and made his way to his bed. When Lotor entered the room, the soft light of the moon illuminated some of the room, and he saw Keith had placed himself next to the wall on the bed.  
"Are you comfortable sleeping in jeans, a t-shirt, and your jacket? I have some pajamas if you would prefer them?"Lotor offered as he himself went through his bedside drawers and pulled out a pair of fluffy black pajama pants. Normally Lotor slept without a shirt, but he grabbed one of his oversized shirts. Lotor quickly changed as Keith answered.  
"I'm fine. I'll just take my jacket off." Lotor turned around in time to see Keith chuck his jacket toward the bottom of his bed. Now that Lotor was comfortable, and Keith was assumed to be comfortable, Lotor climbed into bed. It wasn't until he laid down did his heart start to pound. Oh my God. I am actually laying in bed with Keith, Lotor was slightly panicking, but it only got worse when Keith chose to place himself on Lotor's side, wrapped his left arm around Lotor's waist, and snuggled his head on Lotor's chest. Oh my God, oh my God, my good Lord in heaven what is this boy doing to me, Lotor began to panic even more. His heart was beating rapidly.  
"You nervous or something?" Keith sleepily asked snuggling closer. Not helping, Lotor screamed in his head.   
"No, what would make you think that," Lotor asked, whole body stiff as a board. Last time he cuddled with anyone was that guy he had a summer fling with before his senior year.   
"You're lying. Your heartbeat is super fast. Trust me, I don't bite," Keith softly said.  
"Now who's lying? You most certainly would bite me if you felt the need Mr. No impulse control," Lotor chuckled.   
"Maybe. Now hug me," Keith demanded by snuggling closer. This boy is going to be the death of me, Lotor internally groaned, but did as he was told.  
"Keith, you sure you want to be sleeping with me? I know you just got out of a long term relationship, but the best way to get over someone is not to get under someone else," Lotor said as nicely as he could.  
"I know, now go to sleep," Keith grumbled.   
Lotor obliged and fell asleep soon after, oddly not afraid of the dark and lulled by Keith's soft breathing. When Lotor woke up the next morning it was around eight in the morning and light was flooding through his window. God it is so early, Lotor thought. Normally he'd be dead asleep until eleven, but he also normally falls asleep be three a.m. not nine p.m.. After staring at the ceiling for five minutes reevaluating why he was up at what he felt was the ass crack of dawn Lotor realized the reason he was in his bedroom was no longer laying next to him. Swiftly Lotor raised himself out of his bed and he peeked his head out to his living room. Keith was sitting on Lotor's pull out couch watching some anime Lotor didn't know. After closer inspection though Lotor saw that Keith's head was looking down. Quietly Lotor tip toed toward the back of Keith to try and see what he was doing. Lotor was actually able to get pretty close without Keith noticing and he saw Keith was drawing. Lotor waited for Keith to stop drawing for a moment before speaking.  
"So what is it?" Lotor said making Keith jump. "Are you happy or sad?" Keith turned around to face Lotor, a small blush on his cheeks.  
"A little of both I guess," Keith conceded. Upon further incestigation Lotor noticed there were pieces of papers sprawled all around Keith... and they were drawings of Lotor. They were all so beautiful despite being simple sketches. Lotor was unable to hide his smile.  
"Are these drawings of me?" Lotor asked as he rounded the side of the couch to the bed to grab a paper. Keith was faster and he quickly gathered all the papers around him to the side of the bed furthest from Lotor.  
"No," Keith was red. He was terribly embarrassed.  
"They all look so beautiful, and not because they are drawings of me," Lotor said with a smile, "Come on, my dear, let me see," Lotor reached over Keith and he didn't stop him. He grabbed one and Keith had drawn him passed out asleep on his bed.  
"When did you get up?" Lotor asked while observing the drawing.  
"Five?" Keith answer. Lotor looked at him like he just told him he killed his mother.  
"Five? Why would you want to wake up that early?" Lotor asked completely confused.  
"It's not a matter of want. My body just decides it's time to get up and I can't fall back asleep," Keith answered with a shrug.  
"Well, I guess you drew this when I was sleeping then?" Lotor asked still looking at the drawing. Keith nodded, a little embarrassed again. "Like I said, it is beautiful. I had no idea you drew so well. Can I keep this?" Lotor asked still admiring the drawing.  
"Play your keyboard for me," Keith answered instead.  
"What?"   
"Play your keyboard for me and you can keep the drawing," Keith answered snatching the drawing from Lotor's hand.  
"Uh..." Lotor never plays in front of people. It was more so a pleasure he reserved for himself and his grandparents. Keith was looking at him waiting for a response. "I do not usually play for anyone," Lotor began. He was nervously running his hands through his hair and avoiding eye contact. "I'm primarily self taught, and most of the stuff I play is stuff I have written myself because many songs are either far too easy or far too difficult for me to learn, so I am not even sure if people other than myself and my grandparents would like my music, and like I said I have very little formal training and I do not see myself as great by any means," Lotor rambled on trying to avoiding saying no flat out but not saying yes either.  
"I don't care if you're good or bad, I just want to hear you play. C'mon, you're playing for me," Keith wasn't giving Lotor mich choice. So Lotor sullenly followed Keith back to his bedroom where his piano was. Keith sat on the bed cross legged and watched as Lotor pulled out his black stool and sat down. He turned the keyboard on and sat there drawing a blank before remembering one of his pieces. He started playing one of his chill and relaxing pieces and tried his best to pretend like Keith wasn't there. None of his pieces were very long, so he transitioned into another piece of his, this one happy and upbeat, and after that one finished Lotor decided to transition into one that was both happy and relaxed and ended on a peaceful C chord. Before Lotor knew it ten minutes had passed. He turned back to see Keith gawking at him, a small blush on his cheeks.  
"You don't give yourself enough credit Lotor," Keith stated.   
"So I get to keep that picture?" Lotor asked smiling and blushing himself.  
"Yeah," Keith replied. The two stared at each other in awkward silence before Lotor spoke up again.   
"You need to call Shiro. Right now," Lotor suddenly became serious. Keith fell back on the bed.  
"I know," Keith agreed.  
"It's not healthy the way you're dealing with this Keith. Not going to class, making out with random guys, and God knows what else," Lotor chided.  
"Thanks Sherlock. Not like I didn't know that. Truly an observant man aren't you," Keith sassed back to Lotor clearly annoyed.  
"Call him. I will drive you to campus," Lotor demanded. "I am going to grab my keys and get dressed. You call him and set up a time to talk to him today. If you have not called him by the time I am ready to go I will call him myself," Lotor threatened walking to his closet.  
"You wouldn't dare," Keith snarled as he whipped up back to a sitting position.  
"Yes I would. Lance has everyones number in his frat. Some of those frat boy's are juniors. One of them is bound to have Shiro's number. It will only be a matter maybe an hour tops to get his number. Do not test me Keith. I can be terribly stubborn," Lotor answered as he finally picked out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.   
"You're a fucking asshole," Keith huffed. Lotor heard Keith call Shiro though. As he was getting dressed in his bathroom Lotor could hear how painfully awkward Keith was arranging a meeting time with Shiro, but at least he did it. "He said we can meet around nine this morning," Keith told Lotor when he returned to the bedroom dressed and ready to go.  
"Alright, you ready to go then? It is eight forty now," Lotor asked.  
"Let's go," Keith stood and followed behind Lotor. Lotor grabbed his keys from his couch and the pair were off.  
Lotor dropped Keith off on campus, wished him luck mending his relationship, and he then he left.


	10. Chapter 10

Hours passed by, and Lotor was doing what he normally did on a Saturday: alternate between studying and watching anime. Around ten he got a text from Keith saying that him and Shiro were back to friends and that they were able to talk everything out. Lotor was told him he was happy for him and for him to have a great night. What was strange was when he received a text from an unknown number at midnight saying thanks. Turns out it was Shiro and he got his number through some frat boys. I'm glad everything is good between those two, Lotor thought happily while he continued watching Gangsta.  
Keith started showing up to lab again and everything was running smoothly. Keith and Lotor started going to the coffee shop together again as well which made Lotor very happy. The question if Keith remembered kissing him was always on the tip of Lotor's tongue. Honestly, Lotor was unsure how Keith felt toward him because he treats him like a friend, but that night he treated him like a crush wanting kisses and cuddles. Lotor eventually concluded that Keith was just having a rough time at that point and that the kiss and cuddles were just collateral damage. It hurt Lotor to know that Keith saw him as a friend and probably didn't remember the kiss or wanting to cuddle since it's been on his mind a lot, but it was for the best. If Keith didn't remember and didn't mention it then Lotor didn't have to risk telling him he has a huge crush on him. Lotor has been craving friendship for the past year and a half, and the fact he has a friendship with Keith was enough. As the beginning of May rolled around finals were to follow in close pursuit, so there coffee hang outs became more like study hang outs. It was fun studying with Keith Lotor learned. Despite his rough exterior, he is actually quite funny and sweet and silly and overall imperfectly perfect. One day, as Lotor and Keith were studying together, Keith was scrolling down his phone and jumped in his seat. When Lotor looked at Keith puzzled.   
"I thought there was a bug on my screen but it turned out to just be a really small gif of a cheetah," Keith explained to Lotor. Lotor, not expecting that response, just had to laugh. Lotor wasn't sure when, but Keith started laughing too, and they must have seemed crazy. Two college students who have gone insane because of finals. I love him, it was a quick thought that passed through Lotor's mind as they both stopped laughing. Then Lotor looked at Keith as he went back to studying and the thought passed again, I love him. Lotor's heart began to race, and so he quickly excused himself to the bathroom. When he was safe in the bathroom Lotor just stared at himself. You love him? Are you sure? When did I start to love this boy?, Lotor questioned himself while running his hand through his hair. Lotor stood there staring at himself shocked for a few minutes at his revelation. He calmed himself down enough to walk back out and continue studying with Keith, but his mind was not able to focus on anything except that he loved Keith. Thank God Keith had to leave twenty minutes after his revelation so that Lotor could sit and think without Keith there as a distraction. Lotor tried his best to pinpoint when his crush turned from like to love, but it was so gradual that it was impossible to determine when he like turned to love. He just knew that right now he definitely loved Keith. Lotor dropped his head to the table feeling defeated. I will deal with this after finals. I will simply avoid Keith for the next two weeks, Lotor concluded.


	11. Chapter 11

Turns out it was hard to avoid Keith for two weeks because Lotor had to continuously come up with excuses as to why he couldn't study with him. One time Lotor said he was throwing up, another time Lotor didn't answer his phone because he "lost it", a different time he had to go to the hairdresser to get his hair trimmed, and another time suddenly he had a dentist appointment. At lab during the first week of avoiding Keith Lotor barely spoke to Keith and he left without saying goodbye to Keith. Lotor missed how sad Keith looked as he left, but Lance saw it and made a note to drill into Lotor next lab. The second week of avoiding Keith was easier because Keith stopped texting Lotor, which hurt, but definitely made the avoiding easier. Then at lab Keith just talked to Hunk. Lance, in the middle of lab, decided that he and Lotor had to pee. Once safely in the bathroom Lance laid into Lotor.  
"Why are you ignoring Keith?" Lance asked angrily narrowing his eyes to stare down Lotor.  
"I am not," Lotor said offended.  
"Liar! Yes you are! Every lab we've had up until the past two weeks you two have been up each others asses. What the hell man, Keith looks so depressed now. I prefer him angry," Lance yelled at Lotor throwing his hands all over the place. "You didn't see his face when you left lab last week without even saying goodbye. He looked like he was going to cry!"  
"Oh..." Lotor looked down feeling guilty.  
"Spill. What's up with you two," Lance demanded crossing his arms. Lotor had to tell someone, and Lance was his best option considering the only other person he could tell was Keith and he was not about to tell him he loved him.  
"Okay," Lotor combed his hand through his hair, "So, remember when Keith stopped showing up to lab?" Lance nodded. "Well, turns out him and his boyfriend broke up and Keith was taking it pretty hard." Lance shook his head in understanding and his mouth opened to sound a silent oh. "When you invited him to the party he took that as an opportunity to get drunk and try and get with someone. He had made out with a couple guys from what I could tell, but it did not go any further," Lance suddenly interrupted Lotor.  
"I heard there was a guy with black hair that was making out with nearly every guy he met. I guess that was Keith.," Lance said as realization dawned on him.  
"Do not tell a soul," Lotor threaten.  
"Never. Now continue," Lance said.  
"Anyways, I found him under some guy and so I grabbed him and took him outside to talk to him. That is where I found out about the break up, and long story short he kissed me and he came back to my place," Lotor admitted. Lance wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Nothing happened and to be frank i do not believe Keith even remembers, which is part of the reason I am avoiding him. The other part," Lotor hesitated, "I figured out I loved him two weeks ago when we were studying together and I do not know how to deal with this right now. I just want to get through finals before dealing with this."  
"You love him? Since when?" Lance asked extremely excited now.  
"I don't know, I just do and that is the issue. I do not think he likes me that way, but he called me pretty and kissed me but he was drunk and I am just very confused," Lotor wanted to scream.   
"Well, I'm not sure how you'll be able to deal with this, but avoiding him is not the solution especially if you want to woo him," Lance explained. "I think losing his boyfriend and now his friend is ignoring him, he's just going to be sad. I think he's used up all his anger. C'mon, go be his friend and make him happy, I'm sure you don't want him to be sad. And maybe he does like you, some people say what drunk people say and do are how they truly feel, they just don't have the courage to say or do those things when sober," Lance motioned for Lotor to follow him and he trailed behind. When the pair got back to lab Lotor tried to talk to Keith, but he was greeted with hostile eyes and silence. Lotor kept trying and failing to talk to Keith and by the end of lab he realized he had royally fucked up when Keith left without a word.   
Now it was Lotor's turn to try and get a coffee study to happen but Keith just kept straight up ignoring him. It pained Lotor to be so blantly ignored by Keith, but he had brought this upon himself, and that was all he could think about at four in the morning as he stared at the essay he finished thirty minutes ago. Why am I such a fool, Lotor chided himself. He was pissed at himself for treating Keith so poorly. Self hatred is a hungering pass time and Lotor's stomach began to growl. I guess I will go to Denny's, Lotor decided as he gathered his things together. It was a twenty minute ride, and Lotor just wanted to go to bed, but he was starving so there he was at Denny's at four forty in the morning ordering some pancakes and a milkshake. After ten minutes of blank staring Lotor saw a familiar face: Keith. And he seemed to be in a booth with someone sitting opposite to him, but Lotor could only see the back of Keith's companions head. Keith looked ready to bolt because he was sitting on the edge of the booth and he seemed to be... shaking. Lotor kept staring at the pair and after a few minutes Keith made eye contact with Lotor and he looked relieved. Keith tried to mouth something to Lotor when his partner picked up the menu, get rid of him. Lotor looked at Keith perplexed and mouthed back, gay of it? Keith's eyes widened. His partner must have said something because Keith shook his head. Help me out, Keith mouthed when his partner went to look at the menu again. Lotor saw 'help the cow' so he just looked at Keith and tilted his head. Pretend to be my boyfriend, Keith tried again. Lotor only saw 'pootang my boyfriend'. Lotor mouthed back the only word he thought he got right, boyfriend?, and then Lotor pointed at the guy Keith was sitting with. Keith quickly shook his head and pointed at Lotor then he motioned for him to come over to him. Lotor was confused and tired so he just walked over there to see what was going on.   
"Hey sweetie," Keith said. It was directed to Lotor.  
"Hey," Lotor waved at Keith.  
"This is my boyfriend I told you about a few minutes ago," Keith said, grabbing Lotor's hand while he spoke. Lotor just went with it. Keith was talking to him, so he'll take it.  
"Hi, I am the boyfriend. And who are you?" Lotor asked.  
"Leaving," the man looked freaked out by the emergence of Lotor and left quite fast. Lotor looked at Keith confused.  
"You can't read lips for shit can you Lotor?" Keith questioned.  
"Nope. Who was he?" Lotor asked still standing and still holding Keith's hand.  
"My creepy 29 year old uber driver who decided he was going to invite himself to have breakfast with me," Keith answered.  
"Why did you not yell at him and tell him to go fuck off?" Lotor questioned.  
"Contrary to popular belief, outside of school I have terrible social anxiety and can't seem to be mean when I really need to be, so I suffer in situations like this," Keith answered.  
"May I sit?" Lotor asked gesturing to the booth. Keith nodded, still holding Lotor's hand. Lotor liked Keith's hand so he was not about to let go first, and from the looks of it Keith had no intention of letting go either. Instead their intertwined hands sat on the table. "So why are you up so late?" Lotor asked looking at Keith.  
"Studying. Writing. Insomnia. The usual," Keith answered staring at their hands. They were quiet, and Lotor couldn't stand the silence so he spoke.  
"I am sorry Keith for avoiding you the past few weeks," Lotor blurted out. Keith looked up at him. "I have been having some... issues recently and did not know how to handle them," Lotor said.  
"I've told you about my problems. Like when I was failing Shakespeare and had that fight with Shiro and I even confided in you with my break-up with Shiro and on top of that I basically told you about my abandonment issues when I was drunk at the party. I've told you a couple of my problems and issues, yet you never tell me anything," Keith was getting heated. He had a death grip on Lotor's hand, but he didn't flinch.  
"I am sor-" Keith cut im off.  
"I'm not finished yet. I've recently realized I know basically nothing personal about you. The extent of my knowledge when it comes to you is that you watch anime, like the color purple, and you like white mocha. But you know all about my family situation, you know some parts of my childhood, you know about my best friend, you know so much more about me then I know you and it pisses me off," Keith squeezed Lotor's hand tightly then let go. He flattened Lotor's hand on the table and began to trace his fingertips over Lotor's knuckles. "If you're sorry, then tell me something personal. Something not many people know," Keith spoke softly. "How about you tell me about how you got into your grandparents custody. You mention them sometimes, but you've never explained how that happened." Keith looked at Lotor expectantly. Lotor caved because Keith was right. He was so invested in knowing as much as he could about Keith he never told him anything about himself.  
"Alright. My parents. Up until I was about eight they were great. We never had much, but what we had was always enough. My mom never wanted to rely on her parents money, so we were never wealthy like them, but as I said, we always had enough. They are the reason I love Christmas so much actually, for eight years Christmas felt magical. But, of course hard times fell upon both my parents and they became desperate. My dad knew just the wrong people to get the two of them into selling drugs. It was quite profitable selling meth and marijuana, but it made our small home dangerous for a prepubescent boy. My bedroom became the lab by the time I was nine and by the time I was ten coming home to a drug deal became normal," Lotor was avoiding eye contact because he felt Keith's intent stare. "I am unsure as to when, but at some point both of my parents became heavy users and dealers which was a bad mix because it was just unprofitable, so they started losing money again and their buyers were getting annoyed. So here I was, ten going on eleven, learning how to make meth, having to hide it from my parents, then selling it to their buyers so that they would never act on their threats to kill my mom and dad. It is crazy to think back to that, but that was my life for a while. Luckily for me, one of the buyers was cop a when I was twelve. When he showed up at my house and I opened the door with a gas mask on and all he saw was a mold and bugs and two drugged up parents on the couch he called his back up instantly. Again, luckily for me I had wealthy grandparents who knew the right people to keep me out of juvenile detention otherwise I would not be here now," Lotor gave a small sad smile to Keith. Keith looked at Lotor with disbelief.  
"I don't mean to pry, but have you spoken to your parents since then?" Keith asked quietly still running his fingertips over Lotor's knuckles.   
"No. Once my grandparents gained custody of me I have not spoken to them since. From what I know they have yet to get any better. If they did get better though, I am certain my grandparents would let me know, but for all intents and purposes, my parents were no longer my parents after I was eight," Lotor answered. Lotor felt a tap on his shoulder.  
"Did you order the pancakes and milkshake?" A Denny's worker asked Lotor.  
"Yes. Sorry, I saw my friend here and changed seats," Lotor apologized. The worker gave Lotor his food and left. "Would you like to share my fold and drink?" Lotor offered.   
"I'm not all that hungry, but I will drink some of your milkshake," Keith stated stealing Lotor's milkshake. Lotor thanked God he was right handed as he cut his pancakes with his fok and took a bite. Keith drank some of Lotor's milkshake then asked another question.  
"So, there's something that's been bothering me ever since you said it. You said that you didn't have friends? Or you implied it a while back. How do you not have friends here or back where you're from?" Keith questioned. Lotor sighed.   
"I have a terribly hard time making friends. Always have and I will probably always will, so that is why I have no friends here. Back home... my small friend group basically disintegrated beginning of my senior year," Lotor stated. Keith flipped Lotor's hand over and began to trace the lines on his palm.  
"How so?" Keith pushed. Lotor hesitated. He never told anyone the full truth of the matter, not even his grandparents. It would be nice to finally tell someone though, Lotor decided. He sighed again before beginning.  
"The high school I went to was terribly conservative to the point where most of the student body and staff thought being gay was a sin and something to look down upon. I am bisexual, so clearly that was not good for me. Now, I realized I was bisexual the summer before my freshman year and I told my four friends Axca, Zethrid, Ezor, and Narti. We had known each other since we were twelve, so ever since I lived with my grandparents. The five of us just clicked and were constantly in the same classes growing up so by the time high school rolled around we were inseparable. I knew they would accept me and when I told them they did not react. Zethrid told me cool and then we went to chilling and doing whatever we were doing. I could not have asked for a better response honestly. The only thing that changed for the years to come was that they would gush over their crushes at me and ask me if I thought they were hot and stuff," Lotor smiled at the memory. "Anyway, I had only dated girls throughout my middle school and high school years. That was until the summer before my senior year. I met this cute guy and we had a fling over the summer. Near the end of the summer there was a party that I went to with him and I invited my girls. They were the only people there who knew me, so did not care if I was seen making out with that guy. Add on I was drunk and I think you can image I gave no fucks basically. Big mistake on my part," Lotor took another deep breath then continued, "the first week of school everyone was treating me weird. They gave me dirty looks, they would whisper as I walked past, and some people actually threw paper balls at me. I was utterly confused as to why I was being treated so badly until during lunch at the end of the week Acxa finally found the source of my torment. There was a clear picture of me making out with that guy on a fake facebook account. So everyone in the school knew I liked guys. No one but my girls were there that knew, so it had to be one of them who had- had done that to me. After looking at the picture, both Acxa and Zethrid could be seen in the background. Then I had to rack my brain for a week to try and figure out if it was Narti or Ezor who took the picture. Eventually I was able to remember seeing Ezor playing beer pong for most of the night because she kept beating everyone, so it had to be Narti. So, the second weekend in September, while we were at Starbucks, I brought it up and Narti just kept denying it, but it was the only possible explanation. No one else knew me there that would post that picture of me, make a fake facebook, and friend nearly every person in the school. Eventually she just left. Not long after the rest of left because the tension was thick between us. That Monday I had no more friends. They all sided with Narti. Plus, at that point it was easier for them to hate me then try to be my friend. Everyone at school hated me so they would have been hated by association. It- it was a rough year," Lotor had to fight back his tears. Keith re laced their fingers together and spoke.  
"I'm sorry about when I told you we weren't friends. That must have hurt," Keith apologized.  
"I never thought I would see the day where you would apologize on your own volition," Lotor sniffled and looked and Keith. Lotor knew his eyes were slightly red and there were small puddles of tears in his eyes, but it did feel nice to finally tell someone about how he lost his friends. Keith sat there for a moment just gazing at Lotor's sad eyes holding his hand as the pancakes went cold and the whip cream slowly melted on the milkshake.   
"You should wear highlight more often. I like when you're a shiny boy," Keith said with a smile. He squeezed Lotor's hand. Lotor wiped his eyes.  
"You mean to tell me you remember the entirety of your drunk episode," Lotor chuckled.  
"More or less. I remember the best parts at least," Keith answered.  
"Oh, and what were those," Lotor asked gazing into Keith's eyes.  
"The part where you saved me from myself and the part where you kissed me. Oh, and the part where your heart was racing so fast when I decided we were going to cuddle too," Keith said with a smile and a tilt if his head.  
"So you did remember. I am unsure if that is good or bad," Lotor stated staring down at their hands again.  
"Take it as you will, but I think it's a good thing. And I meant it when I said you were pretty too," Keith smiled. The sun was beginning to rise.  
"Well Lance thinks I am sexy," Lotor laughed.  
"He will have to fight me to have you," Keith answered.  
"You have me?" Lotor asked with a smirk.  
"Didn't you hear me earlier? You're my boyfriend," Keith replied.  
"I thought I was a fake boyfriend though, and you were using me to make him go away?" Lotor inquired with a toothy grin.  
"I think I'd rather you be my real boyfriend," Keith stated looking Lotor dead in the eyes.  
"Are you using me to get over Shiro?" Lotor asked warily.  
"I have liked you, just the slightest bit, ever since you remembered that I had a Shakespeare class, so no," Keith answered while rubbing Lotor's hand with his thumb.  
"Well, I have found it difficult to refuse you," Lotor retorted.  
"So is that a yes?" Keith asked hopefully.  
"Yes," Lotor answered.   
"I expect many kisses and cuddles," Keith challenged.  
"You asked for it," Lotor slid out of his side of the booth, relinquishing Keith's hand, and he slid into Keith's side. Lotor grabbed the back of Keith's neck with his left hand, and his right made its way around his waist. Lotor quickly leaned into Keith's space and kissed Keith with a gentle roughness. Keith's lips were still just as chapped and he tasted like vanilla and Lotor loved it. And when Keith ran his hand through Lotor's hair he melted inside. Lotor quickly released fron the kiss and chuckled softly before giving Keith soft pecks on the lips which caused Keith to laugh, so Lotor kissed Keith's cheeks, and forehead, and nose, and when Keith stopped laughing Lotor went back to small pecks on the lips. Keith finally forced Lotor to linger on his lips longer than a second when Keith held Lotor's head still, but they were both giggling so they had to stop. I hope he will love me one day because my God do I love him, Lotor thought happily.


End file.
